In her 2015 movie Semana Santa (holy week), Mexican director Alejandra Márquez Abella writes and directs a movie with a simple plot: a family vacation to a beach resort. The family comprises a mother, her 8 years old son and a boyfriend.
The movie opens with the scene of the family sitting in an old battered car heading to their destination yet from the simple conversation between the characters you could feel the tension between the son and the boyfriend, that the mother seems oblivious to either intentionally or not.
At the resort, the director invites you to spend a day or two with what turns out to be a dysfunctional family: all try to act as part of a unit when in reality lead a life of their own. What the two male characters share is the love of the mother, who’s an alcoholic.
Abella relies on different scenes with little conversation to make the viewers deduce the story: from small exchanges between the boy and the adults to long shots of their daily activities in the resort. She also represents some aspects of her Mexican culture: the religious upbringing of the boy who’s asked by his grandmother to pray at certain hours, holiday resorts that are especially built to attract the Americans into spending holidays across the border and the locals who strive for such treat but could barely afford it financially.
Contradiction seems to be the main theme of the movie: the way the characters behave around each other is not what they really are. The three main characters do a wonderful job as their interaction is very natural.
Esteban Ávila who plays Pepe represents the boy who lacks an authoritative figure and seeks the closeness of a family that he soon finds while wandering alone in the resort. While his mother (played by Anajosé Aldrete Echevarria) portrays the loving parent who struggles between alcoholism and a constant sense of guilt towards her son.
Tenoch Huerta who plays the boyfriend has expressive eyes that reflect all the emotions deep within when not saying much, especially at scenes where he feels hindered by his poverty from having the dream vacation, he’d promised his estranged girlfriend at times and her son.
The director cleverly bonds the viewers with the three characters; you become unbiased and don’t prefer one over the other. You seem to understand what each one is going through and where they’re coming from.
The resort scenes would bring back happy memories of one of the many vacations you’d taken before the Covid-19 pandemic and that would surely draw a smile on your face (my favourite were the ones by the pool as I haven’t been to one for a year now. I swear I could smell the chlorine and the sunblock worn by the characters!). Also, the beauty of Acapulco beach that is shared between the locals and the tourists on different levels, which the director uses artfully as her closing scene.
Alejandra Márquez Abella was nominated for the Grand Prix in Fribourg International Film Festival in 2016 and won the Special Jury Award for what was described as: “For the sensitivity and the power of the mise-en-scène. For the talent of the whole cast and direction and the ability to immerse us completely, with all our senses.”
The concept of the movie is straightforward and would definitely strike a chord with all viewers. Semana Santa’s message is clear: being part of a family is not easy especially when secrets are kept till the end. The movie is available on Netflix and recommended for all.
(Rasha al Raisi is a certified skills trainer and the author of: The World According to Bahja. rashabooks@yahoo.com)
Rasha al Raisi
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