La llorona

In his third film, Guatemalan maverick director Jayro Bustamante has crafted a modern-day story in the backdrop of the 1982 genocide of indigenous Mayan population under dictator Efraín Ríos Montt's command. The story is of an ageing dictator (based on Montt) and his family of wife, daughter and granddaughter, that finally encounter people's wrath. Told from the viewpoint of the dictator's family members, it could have been a pretty straightforward political story of repercussions, atonement, justice and truth finally catching up. And there was enough scope in the story itself to do both -- firmly ascertain an anti-fascist political stance, and yet portray the dictator and his family with adequate empathy. But Bustamante chose to package this inside the popular mythological horror story of 'the weeping woman', exactly to achieve what - I am not too sure.

The film is beautifully shot, edited and acted. There was adequate suspense and thrill in the film's more horror-ish sequences. The blue-lit nighttime shots, tracking shots in the dark, long dark hair, overflow of water, long creepy stares, jump scares with increasing background sounds, candle-lit invocations of spirits -- all sorts of horror film cliches were used. Rather than adding anything to the story (apart from a bit increased viewership of some horror-film enthusiasts who would ultimately be disappointed), I personally felt that these kind of reduced the film into something less serious and less sincere. The film starts off excellently, but loses its focus after around an hour. To sustain its horror movie potential, the story needed some sort of unpredictability. But this is history, and we all know how histories of this nature finally turn out. There is no suspense in justice. One can only sensationalize it.

6.5/10

The plot summary on IMDb doesn't do this film justice. It's a slow-burn drama about the family of a retired Guatemalan general on trial for war crimes. His daughter, an intelligent and compassionate medical doctor, is finally reckoning with what her father participated in, and her moral struggle expands to the rest of the family. At the same time, the general's sins are coming home to roost in a very literal way.

There is an element of horror here, but I was much more enthralled by the family drama of the piece. Unfortunately, it does copy one thing from other thought-provoking horror films and fails to fully stick the landing. Still a wonderful film and one that I'll think about for a long time to come. Brilliant cinematography and sound design, see it in a well-equipped theatre if you can.

This movie needs a certain appreciation of history to really understand the depths of. It talks of a deep suffering that has scared latin-america for decades. A Subtle ghost story that deserves a chance.

This isn't a horror film but a haunting of revenge. It takes the story of La Llorona and beautifully combines this with a sociopolitical context. Exploring the horrors of war and genocide, La Llorona captures the innocents on boths sides of war and the evil of men.

Talking about a political event with a horror twist, La Llorona isn't a horror movie per say, but more of a political drama with some horror overtones here and there. The first half can be overly slow, but the second half is quite dramatic and impactful. This serious movie above all else painfully depicts the atrociousness of the event that was the Guatemalan genocide of Maya civilians with some scenes being suitably tragic and angry to boost.