REVIEW : Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle tells the crazy life story of a woman who completed a bucket list with style

REVIEW: Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle tells the crazy life story of a woman who filled out a bucket list and completed it with style.

REVIEW: Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle tells the crazy life story of a woman who filled out a bucket list and completed it with style.

LOTS OF KIDS, A MONKEY AND A CASTLE (MA15+)

Rating: Four stars (4 out of 5)

Director: Gustavo Salmeron (documentary debut)

Starring: Julita Salmeron.

A list for a lust for life

Yes, that is quite an attention-grabbing title isn’t it?

Similarly, as we come to learn in an extraordinarily endearing documentary, Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle is also one heck of a bucket list to set yourself in life.

Scene from Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle.

To the everlasting credit of Julita Salmeron, this remarkable Spanish woman was able to chalk up all three of these achievements with plenty of time left to enjoy them all.

Filmed by her son Gustavo over 14 years, the doco tells the funny, touching and unapologetically eccentric story of Julita with great candour and warmth.

First of all, you learn how Julita raised her six children to march to the beat of their own drum, just she like continues to do (Salmeron is now well into her eighties).

Then you get to hear of her, umm, colourful experiences acquiring her very own pet monkey.

Scene from Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle.

Last, but not least, a surprise windfall gets Julita the country castle she has always wanted.

There is more to all of these stories - particularly when it comes to the castle - than you will expect, and the unfiltered manner in which Julita Salmeron tells them is pure gold.

In Melbourne, Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle is now showing daily until Tuesday February 26th, exclusive to the ACMI Cinemas, Federation Square.

In Sydney, the film screens four times in the coming week at the Golden Age Cinema, Surry Hills. Check cinema’s website to confirm session times.

Other states, release date is TBC.

Scene from Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle.

Originally published as REVIEW : Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle tells the crazy life story of a woman who completed a bucket list with style