Luz, La Fleur du Mal

Juan Diego Escobar Alzate makes a remarkable feature film debut as director and writer. Beautifully shot and well acted by a cast, with whom I am not familiar. I was fortunate enough to see this thanks to the folks at Horrible Imaginings Film Fest earlier this year.

El Senor is a father and leader of a small religious cult in the mountains of Columbia. To be honest, since we see the people mostly using older technology, except for some modern firearms, I had thought this was actually some near future dystopia. My bad on that!

El Senor believes that he can bring about salvation, by discovering the reincarnation of Christ, in young boys he brings to his compound and keeps locked up. Much of the tale deals with the increasing madness of this man and his daughter's discovery that much of what he has been telling them are lies.

The cinematography in this movie is one of the highlights, with shots of the night sky, waterfalls and the overwhelming landscape. The isolation of the family and those around them is evident, as we see how vast the world outside their small farms really is.

This is a dark film and one in which we can debate the ending and the fates of the characters. Highly recommended.