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Good Manners, 2017
Clara (Isabel Zuaa) is hired as a housekeeper/live-in companion for Ana (Marjorie Estiano), a woman who is single and very pregnant. But it soon becomes clear that not all is right with Ana and/or her unborn child. As romantic tension grows between the two women, Ana's anxiety about her impending birth builds. The second half of the film deals with the repercussions following the birth of Ana's child, Joel (Miguel Lobo).
It's hard to know how much to say about the plot progression of this film, especially as the film's poster seems to bluntly put it out there. Without going into too much detail, lest someone really want to avoid knowing anything about the plot, the film eventually comes around to the familiar question of what a person does when someone they love turns out to be dangerous, possibly irredeemably so.
The strength of this film is the way that love, loyalty, and fierceness pinball between Clara, Ana, and Joel. What is love? To what degree is it out of our control? And what would we do for someone we love?
At times, the film walks a really brilliant line between tragedy and comedy. One sequence that sticks out is a part in which Clara follows a sleepwalking Ana out into the streets in the middle of the night. What Clara eventually sees is gruesome, and the film uses a stark cut to go from the gore to Ana bouncing around in the living room, living her best life while doing a dance Zumba workout. The second half of the film veers away from the comedy and embraces a more straight-ahead drama/thriller/horror approach.
My only real issue with the film--aside from some questionable CGI at times--was my sense that Joel was not developed well enough to give the film the emotional heft it needs at the very end of the film. Now, just to be clear, I actually really, REALLY loved the ending of the film and thought that it went to an unexpected place. But because of the way that the film jumps forward in time, we meet Joel at a moment when he is beginning to question and rebel. The problem is that this means we mostly see him in whiny child mode. Clara is pretty well developed as a character, as is Ana, and Joel's relatively skimpy character development makes for a lopsided dynamic as the film heads into its final act.
I thought that this was an interesting little fantasy/horror, and I appreciated several ways in which it deviated from what seemed to be foregone directions in the narrative.
Good Manners, 2017
Clara (Isabel Zuaa) is hired as a housekeeper/live-in companion for Ana (Marjorie Estiano), a woman who is single and very pregnant. But it soon becomes clear that not all is right with Ana and/or her unborn child. As romantic tension grows between the two women, Ana's anxiety about her impending birth builds. The second half of the film deals with the repercussions following the birth of Ana's child, Joel (Miguel Lobo).
It's hard to know how much to say about the plot progression of this film, especially as the film's poster seems to bluntly put it out there. Without going into too much detail, lest someone really want to avoid knowing anything about the plot, the film eventually comes around to the familiar question of what a person does when someone they love turns out to be dangerous, possibly irredeemably so.
The strength of this film is the way that love, loyalty, and fierceness pinball between Clara, Ana, and Joel. What is love? To what degree is it out of our control? And what would we do for someone we love?
At times, the film walks a really brilliant line between tragedy and comedy. One sequence that sticks out is a part in which Clara follows a sleepwalking Ana out into the streets in the middle of the night. What Clara eventually sees is gruesome, and the film uses a stark cut to go from the gore to Ana bouncing around in the living room, living her best life while doing a dance Zumba workout. The second half of the film veers away from the comedy and embraces a more straight-ahead drama/thriller/horror approach.
My only real issue with the film--aside from some questionable CGI at times--was my sense that Joel was not developed well enough to give the film the emotional heft it needs at the very end of the film. Now, just to be clear, I actually really, REALLY loved the ending of the film and thought that it went to an unexpected place. But because of the way that the film jumps forward in time, we meet Joel at a moment when he is beginning to question and rebel. The problem is that this means we mostly see him in whiny child mode. Clara is pretty well developed as a character, as is Ana, and Joel's relatively skimpy character development makes for a lopsided dynamic as the film heads into its final act.
I thought that this was an interesting little fantasy/horror, and I appreciated several ways in which it deviated from what seemed to be foregone directions in the narrative.