Character Relationship Map: Cowards

Characters

• Gabriel (played by Eduardo Garé) — protagonist

  Gabriel is a schoolboy whose behavior and fear drive much of the story. He loses his phone, is reported for hitting a classmate, and faces a suspension and therapy after adults suspect a deeper cause....

• Guille (played by Eduardo Espinilla) — supporting

  Guille is a distressed schoolboy who feels threatened, excluded, and unable to control his own situation. He appears withdrawn during the family dinner and tells Joaquín that he lives in fear and cann...

• Joaquín (played by Antonio de la Torre) — supporting

  Joaquín is an adult in Guille’s family who responds to the boy’s fear by insisting that he must learn to defend himself. His attempt to encourage toughness becomes an angry confrontation, showing how...

• Profesor (played by Daniel Medrán) — supporting

  The Profesor is a school teacher involved in the institution’s response to escalating misconduct and damage. He resents being forced to act like a police officer and argues that parents interfere with...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Gabriel → Joaquín (Family Concern) — Gabriel's conduct becomes a source of serious concern within the family setting.

  At dinner, the adults argue about Gabriel's behavior, and the family later struggles with how to address his possible involvement in harassment.

• Guille → Joaquín (Power Child-Adult Authority) — Joaquín attempts to direct Guille's response to intimidation.

  Joaquín insists that Guille must learn to defend himself and confronts him when Guille says he lives in fear.

• Gabriel → Profesor (Professional Student) — Profesor is Gabriel's teacher and participates in disciplinary decisions concerning him.

  Gabriel is a student in Profesor's class, and the school discusses his behavior and suspension with his family.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Profesor → Joaquín (Conflict Institutional Disagreement) — Profesor clashes with the parental side of the adults' response to school problems.

  The adults debate discipline, while Profesor complains that parents interfere with decisions they do not understand.

• Gabriel → Guille (Social Schoolmate) — They share the film's school environment and its atmosphere of fear.

  Gabriel and Guille are introduced together at school amid teasing, missing phones, and intimidation.

Story Analysis

The film contrasts public security measures with the private fear and powerlessness experienced by children and adults.

Plot Progression

1. Fear Enters The Classroom — Gabriel and Guille are introduced amid teasing, missing phones, and intimidation at school. A family dinner reveals that the adults initially underestimate the seriousness of the children's distress.
2. Toughness Meets Terror — Joaquín urges Guille to defend himself, but the advice produces an angry confrontation. Guille's statement that he lives in fear exposes the emotional damage behind the apparent mischief.
3. The School Demands Answers — Damage to school property and Gabriel's assault force Profesor and the adults to debate discipline. Gabriel receives a two-day suspension and is directed toward child therapy.
4. Anxiety Beneath Violence — Therapy reveals Gabriel's Sunday anxiety and the physical effects of fear. At home, Guille also experiences exclusion and doubts his ability to control his own life.
5. Security Cannot Cure Fear — The pizzeria owner installs surveillance cameras, while Gabriel hears that survival requires strength after setbacks. The new police station is inaugurated, but the central fears remain unresolved.