Les filles d'Avril

28th STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. DAY 2, NOV 9th 2017. Swedish premiere.

‪With good performances overall and an interesting plot, the film works well as an exploration of family relations, manipulation and betrayal.‬

‪‪The fifth feature film from Mexican writer-director Michel Franco, "April's Daughter" (2017) was shot in Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City. Actors Emma Suárez, Ana Valeria Becrril, Enrique Arrizon and Joanna Larequi has a believable chemistry. Thematically powerful.‬

I speak Spanish and the movie is great. Very well done.

Some parents are on the bossy side. Valeria, 17 and pregnant, dreads this about her mother, April. She does not want judgments about the baby or her carefree Puerto Vallarta beach lifestyle. Yet motherhood soon overwhelms Valeria, who cries as much as her newborn, and she and her feckless boyfriend quickly change their minds about having April around. Things come full circle again when Valeria realizes the shocking conditions that come with April's care and attention. "We demand too much of women," said the writer/director. "They are judged more severely than men when they make a mistake." The film explores this double standard imposed upon women as well as some of the things that make their lives more complicated and intriguing. The bold moves, zest and determination essential to April's character are played wonderfully by Emma Suarez. A nail-biting tension is maintained throughout the film. Characters are properly balanced, just as there is no good or evil in the world, just people and life. In other words, nothing is black and white. The film relies on ambient sound, such as soothing ocean waves. "Music demands a role of its own," maintains the director, and he did not want it to distract from the points he makes in the film. Selected for the Cannes and Toronto festivals. Seen at the Miami Film Festival.

The presentation of the subject was way worse than an episode of 16 and pregnant and we know how bad that other show is.

Not much to say about this movie. The acting was good, but that's the only half decent thing it has going on. The rest is laughable and ridiculous at best. Valerie was the only character with seemingly human emotions. Clara was just... there. Not much going on about her except her obesity issues. Mateo was as dumb as people get - any more and he would be a dolphin. The mother though is the icing on the cake. She is just plain old clinically crazy! And of course the movie doesn't bother giving us closure on anything going on inside her head.

Regarding the plot. Not much going on here. We witness the worst parents on earth. That's it.

I watched it with a friend of mine and we had lots of laughs, so if you want to have some fun and have an interesting evening with your friends then by all means watch this. You will not regret it (perhaps).