THE STORY – Focusing on 28-year-old Elsa’s return to San José as she navigates between her mentally unstable sister, Amalia, and her disengaged parents.
THE CAST – Marina de Tavira, Reinaldo Amién, Daniela Marín Navarro, & Mariangel Villegas
THE TEAM – Valentina Maurel (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 100 minutes
There is a foreboding energy to the opening scenes of Valentina Maurel’s sophomore feature, “Forever Your Maternal Animal.” We meet our 28-year-old protagonist, Elsa, as she runs through the streets of San José, Costa Rica, and reaches her childhood home. Upon discovering that her younger sister, Amalia, has once again changed the locks, Elsa borrows a set of keys from the family neighbor and unearths a house in disarray. As evidenced from the unkept rooms and piles of dirty dishes, Amalia’s mind has lingered elsewhere, leaving a worried Elsa to trail behind in preparation to pick up the pieces. Between her sister’s fleeting lifestyle and their estranged parents’ individual midlife conflicts, Elsa has no room of her own to run towards. She’s entangled in the emotional rollercoaster of looking after her family, embodying a motherly figure the film’s title symbolically references. While the film has glimmers of a terrific character study, Maurel’s screenplay struggles to maintain compelling enough narrative tension throughout.
When Elsa (Daniela Marín Navarro) turns to her parents for guidance and insight on Amalia (Mariangel Villegas), she finds herself hitting varying waves of familial crises. Her mother, Isabel (Marina de Tavira), is recovering from eye bag surgery for an upcoming tour of her newly reissued first book. Meanwhile, their father, Nahuel (Reinaldo Amién), seeks validation through dating a much younger woman. Elsa observes these dynamics with urgency, but she rightfully has her own life to worry about. She has just returned to San José after years of living in Europe, where her boyfriend Sven is living and studying. Faced with whether she should resume her European life or save her sister in San José, Elsa navigates fluctuating priorities while figuring out what she wants in life.
To explore the characters’ interior conflicts, Maurel adopts a fly-on-the-wall directorial approach. There is a hurried energy to the camerawork that underlines how Elsa’s family communicates with one another. The film moves swiftly between several dynamics, whether it’s a vulnerable mother-daughter conversation or a tense sibling confrontation. Time spent on each character can be rather fleeting, which helps maintain a natural rhythm of dialogue and mirrors their often fragmented psyches. Maurel’s evocative direction also makes time for some pivotal character introductions. Among the most memorable, we first meet Isabel (an excellent de Tavira) in an elusive state, wearing sunglasses indoors and dodging inquisitive comments from Elsa. There is an inviting mystery to her that the writing doesn’t consistently maximize. Isabel’s newly reissued book of poetry, for instance, provides a moving bookend for the story, but could have been more integrated into the narrative throughout. However, de Tavira provides a strong enough presence for us to gravitate effortlessly towards her character.
While the fluid pacing and camerawork create an effectively lived-in atmosphere, Maurel’s narrative ultimately feels rather aimless in what it wants to achieve. The momentum rises and falls constantly between storylines, leaving little room for key developments and emotional beats to resonate beyond a surface level. However, the film’s ensemble of fragmented family members shines. One of the most impressive elements of the film is the core relationship between Elsa and Amalia. Their dynamic reflects an intriguing balance between grounded and mystical energy. Amalia, in particular, has an ability to foresee the future, albeit on a morose level. She dreams of other characters’ deaths and can communicate with spirits. In a standout scene, Amalia asks a grieving loved one if she wants a message passed on to her deceased mother in a dream. There is an unspoken understanding between the two that transcends dialogue and gives us a heartfelt moment to sit with.
Despite the unfocused plot steering their characters astray at times, Navarro and Villegas each bring a raw, natural talent to the screen. Their chemistry provides an impressive portrait of sisterhood, adding a compelling level of range beyond the dialogue. Navarro embodies Elsa’s moral compass and anxiety surrounding how to guide her sister onto a safer path. Villegas encompasses Amalia’s moodier disposition and unpredictable nature. Together, the two bring forth a believable sisterhood that keeps us engaged throughout. Navarro and Villegas also lay the groundwork for a slightly nerve-wracking turn of events in the final act, which puts Amalia’s character in a place of uncertainty following an ominous-sounding text message. Elsa’s swift reaction speaks to her unwavering focus on keeping her sister safe, and to their unbreakable bond despite the family’s overall estrangement. Additionally, Navarro and Maurel are shaping up to be a dynamic duo, as the former previously starred in the latter’s first film, “I Have Electric Dreams.” Maurel’s observational direction is a perfect match for Navarro’s subtlety and magnetic screen presence as a performer.
“Forever Your Maternal Animal” could have worked more succinctly with the material at hand, starting with the title itself. The symbolism around Elsa having an animalistic, protective quality towards her younger sister feels a little too on-the-nose. The meandering plot lines leave one too many story arcs unresolved, and undercut some of the more intriguing developments, namely how Amalia interacts through the spiritual elements of her character. Additionally, the film’s parental figures are understandably at a distance given their estrangement, but there is a missed opportunity not to utilize de Tavira and Amién more often. Despite such narrative shortcomings, Maurel thoroughly understands the power of unspoken connections and an excellent ensemble. While finding strength in its dialogue-forward format, the film is most engaging during the connective moments left unsaid between characters.
