La Llorona

Folklore and unresolved historical trauma converge in this sombre Guatemalan ghost story, not to be confused with the formulaic Hollywood production The Curse of La Llorona from the same year. Drawing on the Latin American myth of a ghostly woman avenging a terrible loss, director Jayro Bustamante connects the story to the genocide of the Ixil Mayan people in the 1980s. Guilty of atrocities, ageing dictator Enrique Monteverde (Julio Diaz) lays low in his gated villa with his family while protestors gather outside. But when a new maid (María Mercedes Coroy) enters his house, a series of uncanny disturbances follow. As unexpected floods and disembodied weeping provoke shivers, Bustamante maintains a sure balance of scares and substance, charging every impeccably composed image with a hushed intensity. While the pacing is perhaps languorous to a fault, the contrast between controlled surfaces and what lies beneath resonates deeply, suggestive of sorrows that cannot be contained.