La Llorona
Film poster
Directed byJayro Bustamante
Written by
  • Jayro Bustamante
  • Lisandro Sanchez
Produced by
  • Jayro Bustamante
  • Gustavo Matheu
  • Georges Renard
  • Marina Peralta
Starring
CinematographyNicolàs Wong Díaz
Edited by
  • Gustavo Matheu
  • Jayro Bustamante
Music byPascual Reyes
Production
companies
  • El Ministerio de Cultura Y Deportes de Guatemala
  • La Casa de Production
  • Les Films du Volcan
Release date
  • 30 August 2019 (2019-08-30) (Venice)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryGuatemala
LanguagesSpanish
Mayan-Caqchickel
Mayan-Ixil

La Llorona ([la ʝoˈɾona]), also known as The Weeping Woman, is a 2019 Guatemalan horror film directed by Jayro Bustamante.[1][2]

Plot

Former Guatemalan dictator Enrique Monteverde (based on Efraín Ríos Montt) is being tried for orchestrating the brutal genocide of native Mayans in 1982–83. Now elderly, he lives with his wife, Carmen; daughter, Natalia; granddaughter, Sara and their security guard, Letona. During the trial, Natalia is troubled by the indigenous women who describe being brutalized by Monteverde's army, while Carmen dismisses them as liars. He is convicted but the verdict is overturned by the high court, which ruled that his guilt could not be conclusively proven. The decision is met with disgust and unrest by the public, who hold nonstop protests outside Monteverde's home.

Monteverde's sleep is interrupted by the sound of a woman weeping and he narrowly misses shooting his wife in the kitchen. This leads to most of his household staff — who are ethnic Kaqchikel people — quitting. His devoted housekeeper, Valeriana, brings in a young woman named Alma from her village to work as a maid. Supernatural activity involving water, including faucets spontaneously turning on, ensues. One night Monteverde sees Alma wading through the pool into the house; his family discovers him, sexually aroused, watching Alma wash her dress. His disgusted wife tells Natalia that he was always attracted to native women and reveals her suspicions that Valeriana, who arrived at their household as a child, may be his daughter. However, Natalia learns from Sara that even though she is very young, Alma already had a son and daughter who died. Alma teaches Sara to hold her breath under water.

The protests continue around the clock, leaving the family essentially trapped in the house. Carmen wets the bed during recurring nightmares where she pictures herself as a Kaqchikel woman being chased and abducted with two Kaqchikel children by the military. The house is blanketed with flyers of the disappeared from decades earlier; Sara and Alma notice one of the Kaqchikel men on the flyers is among the crowd of protesters. Suspicion grows within Valeriana when she reveals to Alma that nobody in her village appears to know her.

Valeriana suspects dark magic is at work and attempts to cleanse Monteverde of the evil spirit. Later that night, Sara uses her grandfather’s oxygen cylinder to hold her breath longer under the pool. Terrified, Monteverde starts shooting Alma while accidentally shooting Sara in the arm. The house is surrounded by the spirits of the disappeared. As he searches around the house, Letona encounters the spirits of two Kaqchikel children who calmly take him away and is not seen again. Valeriana performs a Mayan ceremony while a woman's wailing can be heard. Carmen goes into a trance as she is transported back to the nightmare, which are revealed to be Alma's last moments, watching her children drowned by soldiers before being executed herself by Monteverde. A distraught Carmen strangles Monteverde in the trance and in reality.

At Monteverde's funeral, another old general excuses to the bathroom where he hears a woman wailing as the room begins to flood.

Cast

  • María Mercedes Coroy as Alma
  • Margarita Kenéfic as Carmen
  • Sabrina De La Hoz as Natalia
  • Julio Díaz as Enrique Monteverde
  • María Telón as Valeriana
  • Ayla-Elea Hurtado as Sara
  • Juan Pablo Olyslager as Letona

Release

La Llorona had its world premiere on 30 August 2019 at the Venice Film Festival (Giornate degli Autori)[3] and later screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.[1][4] It was selected as the Guatemalan entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards,[5] making the shortlist of 15 films.[6] On 6 August 2020, the film premiered on the horror streaming service Shudder.[7] On October 18, 2022, the film was released by the Criterion Collection on Blu-ray and DVD.

Reception

Critical reception for La Llorona has been positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 96%, based on 95 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads "La Llorona puts a fresh spin on the familiar legend by blending the supernatural and the political to resolutely chilling effect."[8] On Metacritic the film holds a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on 14 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]

La Llorona received praise from Katie Rife from The A.V. Club, who felt that the film offered "a more intelligent spin on the legend than last year’s schlocky The Curse Of La Llorona". She praised its direction, visual style and story which "layers elements of class, race, and gender conflict on top of creeping horror atmosphere", but criticized its pacing which "slows to a crawl, as Bustamante delves into inter-familial dynamics that are interesting but ultimately a distraction from a more satisfying tale of supernatural revenge."[10]

Manohla Dargis from The New York Times described the film as "a thoughtful, low-key Guatemalan movie that deploys its genre shocks inside a sober art-house package". She noted that "its early scenes — with their mannered delivery and narrative ellipses — are right out of the modern art-film stylebook", reminding her of Lucrecia Martel's style. She added "With precise framing, compositional flair and a steady hand, Bustamante layers the story, adding daubs that suggest rather than explain."[11]

Monica Castillo from RogerEbert.com awarded it 3 stars out of 4, stating that "La Llorona is filled with bewitching imagery and tension, even if it’s less full of surprises and jump scares than other horror movies. Bustamante uses the old haunted tale not to scare us, but to force his audience to reflect on the ways they are complicit in oppression."[12]

Meagan Navarro from Bloody Disgusting awarded it 2+1⁄2 skulls out of 5, writing "Bustamante delivers a sobering evocation for justice, and in the case of La Llorona, it’s by the hands of a folkloric vengeance seeker. Certain aspects of the story are emotionally powerful, while other threads feel underdeveloped. The predictability of the overarching direction means the slow-burn pacing can drag, and the horror elements are very minimal. If you go in expecting something more historically relevant and genre adjacent, it’s easier to find an in to a narrative that's not always easily accessible."[13]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Boston Society of Film Critics 13 December 2020 Best Foreign Language Film La Llorona Won [14]
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 21 December 2020 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [15]
Houston Film Critics Society 18 January 2021 Best Film in a Foreign Language Nominated [16]
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle 18 January 2021 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [17]
Special Citation for Independent Cinema Won
Online Film Critics Society 25 January 2021 Best Film Not in the English Language Nominated [18]
National Board of Review 26 January 2021 Best Foreign Language Film Won [19]
Satellite Awards 15 February 2021 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [20]
Seattle Film Critics Society 15 February 2021 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [21]
Golden Globe Awards 28 February 2021 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [22]
Goya Awards 6 March 2021 Best Iberoamerican Film Nominated [23]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards 7 March 2021 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [24]
Austin Film Critics Association 9 March 2021 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [25][26]
Platino Awards 3 October 2021 Best Ibero-American Film Nominated [27]
Best Director Jayro Bustamante Nominated
Best Actress María Mercedes Coroy Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Julio Díaz Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Sabrina de la Hoz Nominated
Best Screenplay Jayro Bustamante, Lisandro Sánchez Nominated
Best Original Score Pascual Reyes Nominated
Best Cinematography Nicolás Wong Won
Best Art Direction Sebastián Muñoz Nominated
Best Film Editing Gustavo Matheu, Jayro Bustamante Won
Best Sound Eduardo Cáceres Nominated

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "La Llorona". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  2. ↑ "The Weeping Woman". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  3. ↑ "LA LLORONA". Giornate degli Autori (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  4. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (13 August 2019). "Toronto Adds The Aeronauts, Mosul, Seberg, & More To Festival Slate". Deadline. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  5. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (6 November 2020). "Guatemala Submits Horror Pic 'La Llorona' For International Oscar Race". Deadline. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  6. ↑ Davis, Clayton (9 February 2021). "Oscars Shortlists Announced in Nine Categories". Variety. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  7. ↑ Martinez, Kiko (6 August 2020). "Did a Guatemalan Filmmaker Just Make the Best La Llorona Movie Ever?". San Antonio Current. Euclid Media Group. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  8. ↑ "La llorona (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  9. ↑ La Llorona at Metacritic
  10. ↑ Rife, Katie (6 August 2020). "Slow-burn chiller La Llorona offers a more intelligent take on the spooky myth". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  11. ↑ Dargis, Manohla (5 August 2020). "'La Llorona' Review: The General in His Horrific Labyrinth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  12. ↑ Castillo, Monica. "La Llorona movie review & film summary (2020)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  13. ↑ Navarro, Meagan (5 August 2020). "[Review] Shudder's 'La Llorona' Is a Slow-Burn Haunting of the Political Variety". Bloody Disgusting!. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "'Nomadland' Named Best Picture at Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, Paul Raci and Yuh-jung Youn Among Winners". Variety. 13 December 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "Nomadland Leads Chicago Film Critics Association 2020 Awards". chicagofilmcritics.org. Chicago Film Critics Association. 21 December 2020. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "The 2020 Houston Film Critics Society (HFCS) Winners". NextBestPicture.com. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  17. ↑ Harrington, Jim (18 January 2021). "Bay Area film critics honor 'Nomadland,' Chadwick Boseman". The Mercury News. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  18. ↑ "The 2020 Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) Nominations". NextBestPicture.com. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  19. ↑ Davis, Clayton (26 January 2021). "National Board of Review Names 'Da 5 Bloods' Best Picture, Spike Lee Becomes Second Black Director Winner". Variety. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  20. ↑ Van Blaricom, Mirjana (1 February 2021). "25th Satellite Awards Nominees for Motion Pictures and Television Announced". International Press Academy. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  21. ↑ ""Minari" Leads the 2020 Seattle Film Critics Society Nominations". SFCS. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  22. ↑ "Winners & Nominees 2021". www.goldenglobes.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  23. ↑ Belinchón, Gregorio (18 January 2021). "'Adú', 'Akelarre' y 'Las niñas' lideran las nominaciones a los Goya 2021". El País. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  24. ↑ Haylock, Zoe (8 February 2021). "Mank and Minari Lead the 26th Annual Critics Choice Award Nominations". Vulture. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  25. ↑ Partridge, Jon (12 March 2021). "2020 Austin Film Critics Association Award Nominations". AFCA. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  26. ↑ Partridge, Jon (19 March 2021). "2020 Austin Film Critics Association Award Winners". Medium. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  27. ↑ Zimerman, Gaspar (3 October 2021). "La película "El olvido que seremos" fue la gran ganadora de los Premios Platino 2021". Clarín.
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