REINAS (QUEENS)
(director/writer: Klaudia Reynicke-Candeloro; cscreenwriter: Diego Vega Vidal; cinematographer: Diego Romero; editors: Paola Freddi, Diego Romero; cast: Susi Sanchez (Abuela), Taliana Astengo (Pilar), Abril Gjurinovic (Lucia), Luana Vega (Aurora), Jimena Lindo (Elena), Gonzalo Molina (Carlos); Runtime: 104; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Diego Vega Vidal, Daniel Vega Vidal, Valerie Delpierre, Thomas Reichlin, Britta Rindelaub; Outsider Pictures/Alva Film; 2024-Peru/Spain/Peru-in Spanish with English subtitles)
“A pleasant and sincere family drama, even if its story is slight.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Swiss-Peruvian director Klaudia Reynicke-Candeloro (“Love Me Tender”/”The Nest”), based in Switzerland, directs and co-writes with Diego Vega Vidal a tender Peruvian family drama with political overtones. It’s set in Lima, Peru, in 1992, when an insurgent group, The Shining Path, terrorizes the country and the currency takes a hit, and the ruling party is fascist.
This period piece film will represent Switzerland for the Oscars as its “Best International Feature.”
Elena (Jimena Lindo) is a travel agent, set to leave Peru with her teen daughter Aurora (Luana Vega) and the younger one Lucia (Abril Gjurinovic) for a better life in Minnesota (where Elena is promised a job). But the girls need their estranged and unstable cab driver father Carlos (Gonzalo Molina) to sign their exit papers. Before they leave, he returns and seeks to re-connect with them, promising to sign the papers which he never does. He calls his daughters “queens,” and takes them to the beach earning him some points as a groovy dad but upsetting mom because he’s a liar and his actions undermine her parenting.
We visit the fine house of Elena’s upper-middle-class mom (Susi Sanchez), and realize she married someone from a lower class.
The film is set at a troubling time in Peru, when there are many families fleeing because there’s a lack of opportunities and the political regime has turned fascist.
The family remain in Peru for the time being. Nothing great happens. The political situation is never clarified, except to point out that electing a fascist government is a mistake.
Dad gives a solid performance. The sisters give the film its gentle moments that make it a pleasant and sincere family drama, even if its story is slight and there are no emotional highs.
It played at the Sundance Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 11/1/2024 GRADE: B
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