Summary
A couple in a troubled marriage locate a meteorite, initiating an encounter with a mysterious creature. Their lives are turned upside down by the discovery of the creature, which is a source of both pleasure and destruction.
A couple in a troubled marriage locate a meteorite, initiating an encounter with a mysterious creature. Their lives are turned upside down by the discovery of the creature, which is a source of both pleasure and destruction.
Owing evident debts to Andrzej Zulawski's Possession (1981), Amat Escalante's fourth feature is a humourlessly misfiring blend of sci-fi erotica and social critique that is all the more frustrating because its intelligence has been compromised by self-indulgence. Set in a Mexican country town, the story centres on an alien entity that thrives on providing tentacular pleasure to its acolytes. However, it has a ruinous effect on the lives of one family after lonely young woman Verónica (Simone Bucio) is treated for post-coital injuries by a gay nurse (Eden Villavicencio), who is having an affair with the brutish husband (Jesús Meza) of neglected-wife Alejandra (Ruth Ramos). Scripting with Gibrán Portela, Escalante exposes the homophobia and chauvinism of a macho culture. But, despite the teasing glimpses of the creature designed by Morten Jacobsen and brought to slithering life by Peter Hjorth, the audience is kept at a distance by Chilean cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro's static compositions and Escalante's decision to settle for tele-novelettish caricatures rather than making the most of a laudably committed cast.
role | name |
---|---|
Alejandra | Ruth Ramos |
Verónica | Simone Bucio |
Angel | Jesús Meza |
Fabian | Eden Villavicencio |
Angel's mother | Andrea Peláez |
Sr Vega | Oscar Escalante |
Marta | Bernarda Trueba |
role | name |
---|---|
Director | Amat Escalante |