Wendy Chinchilla Araya, Daniel Castañeda Rincón, Ana Julia Porras Espinoza
Costa Rica’s Oscars entry for Best International Feature, Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s striking debut is set in a remote corner of the country and centres on a forty-year-old woman and her sexual awakening.
Otherworldly Clara (Wendy Chinchilla Araya) is believed to have a special connection to God. A ‘healer’, she sustains a family and a village in need of hope, while she herself finds solace only in the natural world. Suffering from a curvature of the spine – a condition that could be corrected, were her pious mother Fresia (Flor María Vargas Chaves) to help her do so – she remains childlike, bathed and dressed up to perform miracles and mysticism. Then, after years of Fresia’s oppressive ‘care’, Clara finds herself powerfully attracted to her niece’s new boyfriend (Castañeda Rincón). A visceral force, Clara’s desire allows her to cross new boundaries. Empowered by self-discovery, Clara begins to heal herself.
Experienced shorts director Álvarez Mesén’s feature debut is a captivating work, strange and sorrowful, bound up in the world of its singular central character – brilliantly portrayed by dancer and first-time actor Chinchilla Araya – and given further impact by Sophie Winqvist Loggins’ by turns beautiful and menacing cinematography.
