La llorona

A pretty bold vision on one of the most well-known figures in Latin American folklore. Jayro Bustamante's 'La Llorona' smartly reimagines the folk legend as political horror story. Unfortunately, most of its conflicts and characters are underdeveloped with the slow-burn pacing drags and the horror elements are very minimal, making it rather difficult to relate to or become attached to the whole story.

This movie needs a certain appreciation of history to really understand the depths of. It talks of a deep suffering that has scared latin-america for decades. A Subtle ghost story that deserves a chance.

A Llorna is more of a political drama rather than a traditional horror film. The problem with establishing a principle character as a convicted genocidal former dictator is the from the begging of the story it's very difficult to care what happens to him.

The plot goes some way to redressing this balance by placing three generations of women as the central characters.

The story is told from the mothers perspective. Trapped in the dictator's company they represent different levels of ignorance, innocence and hope. The wife of the despot comfortable with the political lifestyle, wilfully dismisses any suggestion of her husband's improper behaviour.

The daughter, a professional healer bound by her service and Hippocratic oath puts her in conflict with her parents and protective of her own daughter. The granddaughter, the innocent, unable to understand why people are saying such horrible things about her kindly grandfather.

In these three characters we are offered different levels of ignorance all the while the real victims scream and protest, heard but rarely seen.

Into this scenario arrives Llorona herself and it's through her that the spirits communicate and seek their retribution.

This is a subtle tale and one that some might find slow going. The horror lays not in the actions of the dead, but the injustice of the living.

A slow-burn political drama that merges the real-life horrors of the Guatemalan genocide with one of Latin America's most famous folklores, La Llorona (also called The Weeping Woman) is a story about the ghosts of the past bleeding into the present to right the wrongs, and is crafted in the same vein as Issa López's Tigers Are Not Afraid & Mati Diop's Atlantics.

Co-written, co-edited & directed by Jayro Bustamante, the film is more interested in exploring the collective tragedy, trauma & terror of a nation reeling from loss & unaccountability, and applies the mythic elements to bring justice on doorsteps of those responsible for the mass slaughter. Although it is far from a straightforward genre film, its atmosphere still reeks of spectres & phantasmagoria.

The story concerns the family of a retired general on trial for war crimes, and the unraveling they undergo after the arrival of a mysterious domestic help. There is a haunting quality to the way it is filmed, plus the horror aspects are finely utilised too yet it fails to immerse us completely into its world and never goes all-in with the retribution that was always coming which is a shame, for more could've been done here.

Overall, La Llorona makes for a gripping story about the voids that never fill and scars that never heal, and also serves as a chilling metaphor of the blood-soaked history of Guatemala that's still crying for closure. Not a film for all and certainly not for those expecting something alone the lines of the terrible Hollywood take on the Latin American fable, this Guatemalan feature is a political drama pierced with thin lines of horror & fantasy.

The plot summary on IMDb doesn't do this film justice. It's a slow-burn drama about the family of a retired Guatemalan general on trial for war crimes. His daughter, an intelligent and compassionate medical doctor, is finally reckoning with what her father participated in, and her moral struggle expands to the rest of the family. At the same time, the general's sins are coming home to roost in a very literal way.

There is an element of horror here, but I was much more enthralled by the family drama of the piece. Unfortunately, it does copy one thing from other thought-provoking horror films and fails to fully stick the landing. Still a wonderful film and one that I'll think about for a long time to come. Brilliant cinematography and sound design, see it in a well-equipped theatre if you can.