More the Merrier
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
Couples' stories interlock over one night at a swingers' club and at a dinner where two husbands propose a swap; the Spanish ensemble sex comedy.
Over one night, five stories cross in and around Club Paradiso, a swingers' club whose manager welcomes each guest into its maze of themed rooms.
Alberto and his old friend Paco try to talk their wives, Claudia and Marta, into swapping partners, over a dinner at Paco and Marta's home with a surprise planned for dessert. It does not go the way either man expects. Claudia does sleep with Paco, but before the night is over she and Marta have discovered a desire for each other, to their husbands' dismay.
At the club, Alba, a bride-to-be, retraces her hen night with her friend Liana, searching room after room for the engagement ring she lost there and cannot remember losing. She finds it, confesses to her fiancé that she was unfaithful, and they agree to an open marriage.
Jaime has come with his girlfriend, Belén, who is looking for the ideal couple to play with. The couple they meet is Miguel and Ana, and Ana is Jaime's former girlfriend, who at last tells him why she left him years before. All four walk out single, and better for it.
Raúl, still sore from his last relationship, wants anonymous sex with no strings. In the glory-hole room he starts talking to Víctor, a romantic who wants more than that, and Raúl leaves with the start of a new love.
Clara, who works at the club, brings along her cousin Pablo, now famous and visiting from New York; they have not seen each other since their last summer in the village. In the dark room Pablo has sex with a woman he cannot see. It is Clara, and afterwards the two admit that they are attracted to each other.
By morning each of them has found something other than what they came for, and the manager closes the film with a voice-over spelling out its message of sexual freedom.
Starring
Ernesto Alterioas Alberto
A married man who, with his friend Paco, sets up a partner swap with their wives and does not get the night he planned.
Luis Callejoas Paco
Alberto's nervous old friend and the host of the dinner, who ends up with Alberto's wife while his own wife looks elsewhere.
Pilar Castroas Claudia
Alberto's wife, who goes along with the swap and finds that the person she wants is Paco's wife, Marta.
Claudia’s story
Claudia goes with her husband, Alberto, to dinner at the home of his old friend Paco and Paco's wife, Marta. She does not know that the two men have agreed to end the evening by swapping wives, with a surprise planned for dessert. The night does not go as they planned. Claudia joins in a game of truth or dare, and she does sleep with Paco, but then her attention turns to Marta. By the time the night is over the two women have discovered a desire for each other, and the husbands who planned the swap are left dismayed.
Raúl Arévaloas Jaime
A man at the club with his girlfriend, Belén, who runs into the former girlfriend who left him years before.
Jaime’s story
Jaime comes to Club Paradiso with his girlfriend, Belén. They are hoping a swap will liven up a sex life grown dull, though she is much keener on the idea than he is, and he waits while she looks for the ideal couple. The couple she finds are club regulars, Miguel and Ana, and Ana is the girlfriend who left Jaime years before; she is not happy with Miguel either. In the course of the night she tells Jaime at last why she broke up with him. In the morning all four walk out of the club single, and each of them is better for it.
Anna Castilloas Clara
A Club Paradiso employee who brings her famous cousin to the club, years after their last summer together.
Clara’s story
Clara works at Club Paradiso. When her cousin Pablo, now famous and living in New York, has to spend a few days in Barcelona for work, she has him to stay. They have not seen each other since their last summer in the village, and he is no longer the boy she remembers, always the last to leave a party; he is reserved and stiff. She sets out to find the Pablo she knew, and brings him to the club. In the dark room he has sex with a woman he cannot see. It is Clara, and afterwards the two admit that they are attracted to each other.
Miki Esparbéas Pablo
Clara's cousin, a celebrity visiting from New York, reserved at first, who lets go in the club's dark room.
Why it matters
More the Merrier belongs to a run of Spanish comedies about sexual freedom, and it argues openly for kinds of love that do not fit inside the couple. Its five strands test the idea from different sides. Two men who propose a swap are undone when their wives prefer each other. A bride turns a confessed infidelity into an agreement. A couple discover that an honest ending can be a relief. A man who went looking for anonymity finds tenderness instead. The film is broad and cheerful, and reviews were mixed on how much it carries beyond the jokes. Underneath them runs a real question about consent inside relationships: what it takes to say out loud what one wants, and what happens when a partner answers with a want of their own.