Direction: Rodrigo Plá, Laura Santullo
Country: Mexico
Husband and wife Rodrigo Plá and Laura Santullo have been working together since 2007 with successful results - he as a director; she as a screenwriter and occasionally producer - making the Uruguayan cinema more appealing. Titles such as The Zone (2007), The Delay (2012) and A Monster With a Thousand Heads (2015) put on display what they are capable of. Their latest drama, The Other Tom, marks the first time they share directorial duties.
The story brings into view the difficulties of Elena (Julia Chavez), a hardworking single mother who depends on the social services to eke out a living. Her life wouldn’t be so tumultuous if her nine-year-old son, Tom (Israel Rodriguez), didn’t have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Syndrome). The kid, besides being sidelined at school, is treated with inadequate medication with dangerous side effects. What he wishes the most is to see his father (Rigo Zamarron) again, who keeps promising him a visit for three years.
The Other Tom disappoints when it comes to pacing and sins for its length, but we must recognize in Plá and Santullo a fierce desire to battle the system and its injustices. Faithful to a naturalistic approach, the pair combines the inclusion of the sordid cruelty of reality and a certain candidness found in the mother-son relationship without taking much advantage of that. Their register is cadenced and lukewarm, and there’s almost no climax.
Halfway through, the film spirals into a decrescendo of plot arcs that make it repetitive. Incapable of claiming an original identity, this is, nonetheless, a finely crafted picture where family values and the courage to revert an erroneous decision are present.
