Encarnacion (or Ernie) is an aging actress (her 10 minutes of fame are over and consisted of a movie and some work as main dancer in music hall). As many old actresses; is obviously fighting against age however she is not stupid and knows her limits. She manages to survive doing commercials or publicity while looking for the occasional job in movies or TV attending premieres, keeping in touch with the industry or setting up a web page with her bio.
She is a lonely woman but maintains some no commitments relationships with men younger or not.
One day she receives an invitation to her niece's 15 years birthday; so she travels to her hometown to re-encounter her family and confronts betrayal and lies.
The portrait of the actress is quite different from the likes "SUNSET BOULEVARD". We are shown other side of things here. Encarnacion has already come to terms with her age and career decline; however is her family who rejects her. Hypocrisy is everywhere in the small hometown. Her very moral and uptight sister had stolen her inheritance and the rest of the family or friends see Encarnacion as a sexual object, a prostitute or both.
This is the kind of realistic movies were "common people" are far from angels. Even her niece, who takes her as a model woman but, as many kids, asks far more than gives.
ENCARNACION is a very intimate movie. A very simple story where things occur mostly inside. There is no moral ending here, simply because there is nothing to change; aging cannot be avoided and the final message of the movie is "LIVE FREE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN BUT KEEP LIVING".
Silvia Perez (in her first protagonist role) and her body give an Oscar worthy performance; a really valiant one. The camera focus on every wrinkle on her face or every part of her body without trying to hide its age or using doubles (like many other actresses do).
In brief; this is the king of movies that women of certain age could really appreciate but many men will understand too.
