The director’s feature film debut is a portrait of a woman in her 40s who’s living with her family in a small village. Clara (Wendy Chinchilla Araya), who has a mental disability, has been under her deeply religious mother’s strict supervision all her life; regarded by the villagers as a person who has a special bond with God, Clara is also treated as a dumb kid by her family, her lively sexuality constantly repressed. The film slowly but intriguingly connects this character to the beauty and mystery of nature, plants and animals; a masturbation scene in the jungle involving fireflies is a visual standout.
2021-Costa Rica-Sweden-Belgium-Germany-France. 106 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén. Screenplay: Maria Camila Arias, Nathalie Álvarez Mesén. Cinematography: Sophie Winqvist. Cast: Wendy Chinchilla Araya (Clara), Ana Julia Porras Espinoza (Maria), Daniel Castañeda Rincón (Santiago), Flor María Vargas Chavez, Laura Román Arguedas, Fabrizzio Josue Vallecillo Vargas.
