LA LLORONA (2019)

 

Directed By: Jayro Bustamante  Written By: Jayro Bustamante and Lisandro Sanchez  Cinematography: Nicolas Wong  Editor: Jayro Bustamante And Gustavo Matheu

Cast: Maria Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kenefic, Julio Diaz, Maria Telon, Juan Pablo Olyslager 

An aging paranoid war criminal, protected by his faithful wife, faces death while being haunted by the ghosts of his past.

The film is well put together and grafted. As things come together or are revealed slowly deepen our understanding. 

As this is a horror story with barely any scares. Which makes it all the more dramatic. With its tight cinematography and lack of score 

The film is not as scary but is more about the horrors of the past. Done to humans by their fellow man for little to no reason and how they live with themselves after. Just trying to live yet haunted knowing their own guilt.

In certain scenes, the film grabs your attention. As not only does it leave you in the middle of things but also offers no immediate explanation. While it has a tendency to start a scene in a tight close-up seemingly small then slowly moves back to reveal more complexity to the scene as you see more space revealing many remaining others in the scene but still stays artistic and quite striking in images that you might have thought was the art of the beauty of the shot was only a fraction of the overall. A piece of the ultimate puzzle. Which scenes are usually for a movie or production.  

The director does the same when a scene is in wide shots only in reverse and slowly pushes in to bring us closer to the character in the middle in a tight close-up. Again managing to reveal more, as we see certain details we miss initially as they come more into focus, but also brings us closer and more intimate with the characters who are the focal point as they come more into focus.

This also helps build the tension even when this style is phased out toward the middle. As this is a film devoted to slow reveals which is genuinely what the style and even the film are all about. 

The central location of the house becomes an odyssey in itself even without its limits it feels endless. 

The film offers striking images and angles. As we wait to see what will happen driving our imagination and expectations. Then chooses to retreat slowly leaving its own restraints. 

As the film exposes the class divide as well as race through the country and in the family's behavior. 

What is spooky, The main character never seems to blink. Her long natural black hair could be a shroud for her. That ends up becoming more of a long frame for her beauty 

It offers up the vanity of beauty with the general's wandering eyes. As his wife knows of his indiscretions. The young lady who comes to work for them is a native of the country and knows that is his weakness.

Who he has taken advantage of before. It offers hints that the young lady seems to be haunting him or a representation of his past.

The audience is kept expecting violence. So it works on your anticipation, expectations, and temptations offering glimpses to read the mood. 

Not as mysterious as I thought but still effective. His wife going through in dreams the crimes he committed against her in the past. This is why she haunts him as a way to get in so that other spirits slowly are allowed protestors to represent past victims and their kin.

The film even seems sequel ready if needed. As she keeps implying she is not done and might be coming for his comrades. Whom we see early on in a meeting. 

When his wife is going through in dreams the friend he committed to the young lady in the past. This is why she haunts him, as a way to get in so that other spirits slowly are allowed in. The protesters more represent past victims and their kin. That is when it all really hits. We are expecting one kind of film and the film is offering something quite unexpected but still a revenge tale. 

The film runs out of steam a little once you figure it out. Not as striking as a gothic style and goes more for harshness. A ghost story in a reality that feels a little more like a fable only modernized 

Grade: B+