Esperanza et ses saints

It's a drama that slowly turns into a sharp comedy. Even though you never forget the seriousness of the situation, you start enjoying the sequence and the slight turns of the plot. It reflects the impacts of faith and some ways to pursue it, and it never fails to deliver a touch of reality in a subtle way, even if some situations are a little overacted ... it was a joy to see it

I see the intention of the film, thus we live in Mexico (as in Mexican culture) in a surreal world but still the director should develop a personal style. I have never been so impressed with David Lynch's films or any other that portray scenery in which quiet, innocent lifestyles and characters are mixed with underground dark worlds and also characters. Why? because it is reality in Mexican culture , you see people devoted to saints yet they are part of drug cartels or they are dangerous murderers. You can also have the most beautiful neighborhoods in the world and a few feet away the poorest in the world, it is full of contrasts in textures in which if you apply the juxtaposition technique of Lynch you get a lynch film and that is what Santitos do, yet we have to develop a new way to attack this reality, it is too easy to go lynch's way.

Santitos has many wonderful things: great photography by Xavier Perez Grobet, some good acting, particularly by Demian Bichir, and the supporting actors, excellent art direction, a nice sense of humor, a good music score by Carlo Nicolau. Its weaknesses are a wooden performance by the actress who plays Esperanza, the main character. With a better, more expressive actor, this movie could have soared, since she has to carry the bulk of it. She's lovely to look at, but her performance lacks character. The story drags on a little bit too long and doesn't really seem to have much of a point. As is typical in Mexico it seems that women can only be either saints or whores -- and the novel and screenplay were written by a woman! However, it's a promising first film by Alejandro Springall and will undoubtedly delight fans of the "Like Water for Chocolate" school of magical realism.

I had lost my faith in national productions after "El coronel no tiene quien le escriba" and "Un embrujo". Santitos made me believe in mexican films again!It's a wonderful road movie about faith and sacrifice. Really funny, with great photography work and excellent actors. If you've watched mexican movies from the last decade, you'll know all of them are about poverty and misery, a depressing look at Mexico. But Santitos is like a ray of light in a dark national film industry.

Don't miss it!

After St. Jude appears in Esperanza's oven, she sets out to find her daughter, who died under mysterious circumstances. The journey forces Esperanza to challenge her own beliefs and face her fears in order to be reunited with her beloved daughter.

The film is full of humor, sorrow, oddball characters, bizarre situations and danger. Through it all is an underlying message of the power that love has to change us all in the most unexpected ways.

A visual treat too, "Santitos" paints a beautiful, funny and compassionate picture of Mexico. But director Springall doesn't isolate his message. We all know at least one of the characters, and have probably visited similar places. This connection to the world outside of Esperanza, Veracruz and Mexico is what manages to touch us all.