Cadejo Blanco (2022)

Direction: Justin Lerner
Country: Guatemala / Mexico / other

Cadejo Blanco works more or less in the way it's supposed to, but in its grave meditation on the banality of evil and gang insensitivity, it reflects excessive mechanical behaviors. I felt a bit detached because the narrative was never stimulating.

The story revolves around the disappearance of a teenager who never returned home after a night out in Guatemala City. Sarita (Karen Martínez), the missing girl’s courageous sister, is certain that her disappearance is related to Andrés (Rudy Rodriguez), a gang boy who was dating her. Through him, she manages to infiltrate the gang in the coastal town of Puerto Barrios in order to get some answers. Yet, the acts of violence she’s forced to commit and the oppression she endures will change her life forever. 

Wallowing in the mire of an innocent infiltrated that seeks revenge, the film displays a simple, adequate scenario, but the episodes are not quite believable. Martínez reveals excessive emotional control and a chilly coldness when acting. Although she might not be worthy of our sympathy, it’s not just revenge she’s eager for but also survival that is in question. 

It’s easy to say that writer-director Justin Lerner - this is his third feature, following Girlfriend (2010) and The Automatic Hate (2015) - and the pair of young actors showed dedication to the material, but it’s unfortunate that the tactlessness of most of the scenes hinders the final product.

José (2020)

Direction: Li Cheng
Country: Guatemala / USA

The 19-year-old José (Enrique Salanic), who provides curbside meal services working for a restaurant, experiences a special, passionate, and ultimately unfulfilled homosexual relationship in the ultra-catholic yet violent contemporary Guatemala. Tangled up in the obstructive emotional manipulation of his mother (Ana Cecilia Mota), Jose renounces to an unprecedented chance to leave the country and pursue a better life in the company of Luis (Manolo Herrera), an adventurous Caribbean migrant he fell in love with. Instead, he prolongs the tortuous path that leads to frivolous sex liaisons.

Chinese-born writer/director Li Cheng populates the film with fine establishing shots and captures the dynamics of the city with raw authenticity. On the other hand, he exaggerates the frequency of the languid, repetitive sex scenes.

The minimal script is marginally extended by a side-plot focusing on Jose’s female co-worker, Monica (Jhakelyn Gonzalez), who becomes disheartened with the outcome of her short-lived straight relationship. All is played in a controlled minor key.

Anything but commercial, and featuring a cast of non-professional actors, this portrayal of romantic disillusion still resonates with a good slice of honesty in defiance to an imperfect editing and some forgivable structural irregularities.

Ixcanul (2016)

Directed by Jayro Bustamante
Country: Guatemala / France

Carrying the evocative colors of a folk tale, “Ixcanul” is the title of the wonderful debut feature from Jayro Bustamante, who completely absorbs our attention not only through the genuine characters and their deep emotions but also with the beauty of the location and the culture associated with the story.
The odd word ‘Ixcanul’ means volcano in Kaqchikel, the dialect spoken by the decreasing Mayan families that inhabit the surroundings of the Guatemalan coffee plantation located near an active volcano. On one side of the volcano, the one we can see, there is hard work and poverty, while on the other, there’s the US, where hope and dreams are real.

The film starts by introducing a family of three – Manuel (Manuel Antún), Juana (María Telón), and their 17-year-old daughter Maria (María Mercedes Coroy) - who keep surviving the difficulties with, at least, some work available and some food on the table. The perspectives of doing even better arrive with Ignacio (Justo Lorenzo), the plantation’s foreman who became a widower and now wants to marry Maria.
The families meet and the marriage is arranged. However, the blossoming Maria couldn’t refrain her sexual impulses before the wedding day. Willingly, she gives herself, not to her future husband but to Pepe (Marvin Coroy), a local young man who drinks too much and plans to escape to the US. His promises to take her with him seem to grow solidly in her mind, but the sad reality is that Maria is left behind, pregnant.

Juana, in a stern yet caring way, persuades the disoriented girl to get rid of the fetus, but after a few failed attempts, they conclude that it’s better to give up this idea since the baby’s destiny is to live.
Still, the tragedy will pursue this family and the drama attains its climax with a disturbing sincerity and a fervent agitation.

The non-professional actors were superb, and not for once I suspected from the realness of the tale. Their profound intimacy while performing helped the already competent direction of Mr. Bustamante, who was also gifted with the vivid widescreen cinematography by Luis Armando Arteaga.
"Ixcanul" won the Alfred Bauer award at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival and was the first film Guatemalan film to be submitted to the Academy Awards.

The Golden Dream (2013)

Directed by: Diego Quemada-Diez
Country: Guatemala / others

Movie Review: The first feature film by Spanish director Diego Quemada-Diez, “The Golden Dream”, follows the same lines adopted by Cary Fukunaga’s “Sin Nombre”, becoming less stereotyped and considerably more appealing than that one. The film centers in three Guatemalan adolescent friends who join efforts and embark in a perilous illegal journey on train, and later on foot, towards the US border. Juan, Sara and Samuel leave their slums, just to be busted and robbed by Mexican migration forces. Sent to the point of departure, Samuel decides to stay, but Juan and Sara, well accompanied by a loyal Indian boy called Chauk, decide to try again. There’s some crispation between the two male protagonists, once they dispute Sara who travels disguised of a boy. Along the way, a lot of misery is seen - human trafficking, exploitation, and kidnaps for ransoms are a constant danger. The destinies of each one of them will differ but even those who make it through the border, attaining the so expected golden dream, aren’t free from disillusion. The solid camera work wasn’t a surprise, since Quemada-Diez is a former camera operator; the real surprise came from the incredible performances by the young actors, all of them non-professional, and worthy of the A Certain Talent prize for the ensemble at Cannes. Apart from the authenticity felt, “The Golden Dream” better achievement was to expose a powerful sad story without resorting to sentimentality. A great debut by a newcomer director/writer from whom we expect awesome things in the future.