 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 2019 film La Yorona, which I'm sure English-speaking people would say La Llorona But the if there's one thing I learned in Spanish classes when I was in high school It's that the double L has a Y sound so La Yorona This is not to be confused with the curse of La Yorona, which had come out I think last year the year before that these are two separate films definitely separate films So this film is from Guatemala. It is a Spanish language film, and it's done by J.R.O. or Jairo Bustamante who's done Excanol and Tremors. No, not the Tremors that is most well known. It's a different Tremors It was also written by Bustamante and La Sandro Sanchez Now this is a shutter exclusive film when I'm putting this review out It's not out yet It comes out the Thursday of when I'm putting this up and actually I should put down what the date is It's coming out on the 6th Thursday, August 6th So know that you can see it then now I'm I'm giving a synopsis, but I don't want to say too much synopsis wise for this But basically it's a it's about a family kind of hold up in their house trying to deal with a Situation that's going on because of the elder Male in the family that's as much as I'll kind of say and it's not so much about Physically dealing with things that's more about mentally and emotionally dealing with things coming to terms with stuff now No spoilers on this sorry Sorry for clearing my throat no spoilers on this because it's a film that's just coming to shutter So just know that but we can do spoilers in the comments if people want to do that. So I With this film it is more You can't just watch it and think this is gonna be a straight-up horror film And you're gonna have all these scares and stuff. There are moments that are creepy. There are moments that are a bit intense but Overall, it's not one of those straightforward horror films This is a more commentary on society in Guatemala on Guatemala's past on Societal issues and how to come to terms with those things or sorry a need to come to terms with those types of things It makes a lot of points and I'll kind of talk about some of the underlying themes with it without really spoiling anything But if you're looking for just one of those straight-up horror films where it's, you know You turn your brain off and just go this is not that film This film's kind of more in the vein of something like tigers are not afraid Which is a film that kind of deals with the issues of kids getting caught up In the drug cartel violence now This is a little bit different because it's not about drug cartels But it's in that same vein of like societal points and not and it's more thematic stuff And it's less like straight-up scares because if you saw my review for tigers are not afraid And I don't know if it's on shutter still or not It's one of those films that there's not a whole lot of like horror to it And this film's kind of that way the horror is light to it. It's more of kind of like a true life horror and Yeah, so just kind of throwing that out there It does help to read up on the massacre of dose eras in 1982 in Guatemala for this Just so you have an idea of the backdrop of something that's going on early on in the film It kind of departs from that and can be applied to Many other situations after that, but it is rooted in a specific thing The massacre of dose eras at least early on so it kind of helps to just read up on that Just check out the Wikipedia. So you kind of have a base of knowledge. So you'll kind of context for what's actually going on It is heavily referenced in the very beginning of it But just you know as a quick little bit about what it was it was basically a government-led genocide against indigenous peoples in Guatemala and Terrible terrible The beginning is a bit unsettling. It's got a little bit of an unsettling Aspect to it the very beginning before the actual title flashes on screen They focus on one particular actress and kind of like the camera moves back kind of slowly And I have to really give credit to that actress because she needed a lot of focus for that scene and You can't slip up Her her delivery and you'll see what I mean when you watch it her delivery of how she's delivering lines and For how long she's delivering lines takes a lot of focus and skill and I was pretty impressed by that So that's cool But this is something that they do a few times in the film is they kind of like the kind of Slowly panning back shots which look good Especially because it's nice because it kind of expands the world of what you're seeing it expands the scene And I really like shots like that that you know don't do it too fast They do it slowly so you're gradually seeing more and more and more of what's going on Which kind of helps you with the breadth of what they're trying to get through of look at look at the extent of what's happening here That type of thing there are some really cool shots in this this kind of the word alter kind of jumped into my head for boost of Monte because These are the types of directorial things and this is a type of cinematography that authors do a lot of really cool looking shots a lot of interesting angles a lot of Shooting through things in a way, you know shooting through something so it kind of like creates a natural border around the the shot that you're seeing it's Really well done cinematography directing really good. The acting is quite good as well Don't have any issues with that so from a technical standpoint. It's nice Also, the score the score is really well done and it's it's simplistic They don't go over the top with it Which is really good because for films like this you shouldn't go over the top because you're gonna put too much focus on the actual score itself And this is about the dialogue about the story So you don't want to overshadow that and they don't because the music is pretty minimal But it works it also works you got to walk that fine line of you know Doing enough music but not doing too much music and they I think they do a good job of that And there are moments, you know, I'm big on this where they use silence quite well To kind of ratchet up tension a little bit. So good on that. I like that Don't get me wrong. This film is slow. It is a very slow burn It takes its time getting to the end state for that reason it feels like a slow movie It feels like a little bit of a slog at times. So if you're not okay with that, this might not be the film for you I'm okay with that It's people who watch a lot of international film You kind of understand that in the United States film making for the most part is a little bit different It's kind of more about keeping the action going going at a faster pace things like that in other Countries a lot of the times film is a little bit more about go ahead Take your time develop the story slowly kind of create a whole atmosphere a whole environment that people can breathe in and Then you know you will get there and you do get there there's payoff at the end of the film now Like I said, this isn't gonna be for everyone because it does feel kind of slow It's a little bit over an hour and a half and it kind of feels longer than that which usually sucks but I Mean there are some things that they could have edited down in this to make that better, but I'm not mad at it It's fine There's also to go back to the music portion There's some interesting musical cues put in here that are kind of supposed to give the idea that there's something kind of sinister A foot and it's it's nice because it's not done in the sense of there's a musical cue and something happens immediately It's more of like Implanning a little idea in your brain with that little bit of music saying something's off Something's a little weird and it pays off later It's not like a immediate thing and I kind of like those things those are fun It's driven home and there's a society of not valuing women in this film and kind of expecting their place to be just supporting men Kind of doing whatever the man needs whether it's physically taking care of them or emotionally being there for them or keeping secrets Or just shutting up and knowing your role in a sense. It focuses a lot on the females in this film It's very female driven and it's kind of about how they're controlled It's not that's not solely about that But that's one of the aspects of this film about the inequality going on in society there and kind of being controlled and this is a lot of it spawning from a societal norm that started a long time ago that is overdue to basically be flipped on its head and Yeah, that this persists mainly because of tradition So it's very interesting that this is very female driven and you kind of see the struggle of trying to deal with Living up to what you're societally supposed to be as a woman versus the struggle of trying to Be more independent trying to be more Engaged seeking knowledge of knowing what's really going on and feeling like you want to do the right thing You want to get the information that you feel you need To be the right type of person to you know Make the right type type of decisions and it's this give-and-take that you end up seeing through it of the struggle of Do I just Not say something do I not ask a question? Do I just do what I'm told or do I go with my more my more strong instincts? And I do what's more right and I seek to be a more of an equal as opposed to a subordinate So it's interesting from that aspect There's a good portion of this. That's actually shot Nighttime and I appreciate the fact that it's lit enough that it's kind of like a moonlight Lighting and you can see enough of what's going on You know, there are a lot of films and I have problems with this all the time where it's too dark You cannot see anything when it's dark Prime example, I always say this the alien versus predator requiem film that film is unwatchable Because it's so dark. You can't see what's going on So this film did a great job of doing stuff in the dark But you have enough lighting that you know what's going on You can clearly see see what's happening some things are obscured But that's okay because you still know what's going on. You can still see it. So good on that It focuses on one particular family and there's something going on around them throughout the film that serves as Kind of a truth that's trying to kind of make its way inside of the family as they're physically shut in their house Basically metaphorically trying to keep the truth trying to keep that information Outside of the family unit unit because it could destroy the family unit it plays into the issues of you know, denial and you know, how hard it is to kind of take those truths in actually absorb them and you know Make harsh decisions and judgments about your own family Everyone wants to believe that your family is really good that everyone in your family is a great person Who's only done good things in their life, but that's not the reality of the situation and it takes a lot of strength to Realize that and to recognize those moments where you need to address those types of things which actually goes to another thing about this It touches on the specters a few more things it touches on the specters of war that end up lingering You know this kind of going back to that dose areas massacre That stuff doesn't just go away and that's one of the kind of points made in this film Is that those types of things don't go away for a country for a society for? Individual people who are involved in it There is a tendency for certain people especially people who have done wrong in the past to want to just move past things And then that's seen in this film But the point is kind of made that you know the specters of what happened will stay They will linger and those things instead of just being moved past need to be addressed need to be acknowledged and Dealt with properly in order to get actual healing in order to learn From the situation and make a better future make a better present even at that point so Yeah, you got to make amends in a sense. So that's kind of all I have to say about this film It's very dense from that kind of societal commentary portion So if you don't like that in film, this isn't gonna be for you if you do like that in film You may very well like this film. So with a possibility of five stars in play half With the possibility of five stars half stars in play. I'm gonna give this a solid three star rating There are some things about it that personally it wasn't my favorite. It did feel very long. It went kind of slow I'm okay with that but the payoff in the end wasn't as large as I wanted it to be I was expecting a horror film and it wasn't as much horror as in my mind What I thought it was gonna be but this is a good film still and it's kind of like when I did my review for tigers I'm not afraid where it's I was expecting horror. It's not so much horror, but just know it's an interesting film It's a well-done film. It's an important film. So Worth checking out but anyway based off all this information make your own decision if you want to watch this film or not But you know me I think that any film is worth seeing at least once that way You know, you can make up your own mind on if you like it or not But thanks for checking this out. 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