David Trueba uses the film to explore several distinct themes:

Set against the restless pulse of Spain’s capital in the late 1980s, Madrid (1987) is a gritty urban drama that captures a city in transition and the lives entangled within it. The film follows a small ensemble of characters whose personal crossroads intersect across neon-lit streets, cramped flats, and boisterous cafés, each searching for identity, connection, or escape amid post-dictatorship social change.

The film is essentially a two-person chamber piece, relying heavily on the chemistry and performance of its leads.

The official synopsis is deceptively simple: An aging, cynical journalist (Sacristán) and a young, idealistic student (Valverde) find themselves trapped naked together in a bathroom after a would-be romantic rendezvous goes wrong. What begins as a clandestine affair becomes a claustrophobic, day-long confrontation between Franco-era cynicism and post-transition idealism.

The premise is deceptively simple. Miguel agrees to meet Ángela in a quiet café in Madrid to discuss a potential interview for her university newspaper. The conversation is intellectual, flirtatious, and tense. When the café owner leaves, Miguel invites Ángela up to his friend’s nearby apartment to continue the discussion over whiskey. Once inside, a tragicomedy of errors occurs: Miguel locks the heavy wooden bathroom door to hide from the arrival of his friend. The lock jams. They are trapped.

Naked. The film’s most shocking moment happens organically: Miguel suffers a panic attack, strips off his clothes, and convinces a hesitant Ángela to do the same to "destroy the artifice of society." What follows is a Socratic dialogue about the Spanish transition to democracy, the role of the media, sexual politics, and the generational gap—all while they huddle on an old bathroom rug.