“In her remote Costa Rican community, Clara (Wendy Chinchilla Araya) is thought to have a direct line of communication with the Virgin Mary, leading sick townspeople to her doorstep in search of healing. Though she’s 40 years old, Clara is in many ways still an innocent, sheltered from the world and kept in a state of perpetual ill health by her overbearing mother (Flor María Vargas Chaves), who refuses to correct Clara’s spinal condition for fear of losing Clara’s God-given gifts. Clara takes solace in nature and with her family’s horse, Yuca. But when her niece’s boyfriend Santiago (Daniel Castañeda Rincón) begins to spend more time around the house, his presence awakens powerful stirrings of desire. Clara begins to act out, disrupting the expectations of her alarmed relatives.
With her feature directorial debut, Costa Rican-Swedish filmmaker Nathalie Álvarez Mesen confidently blurs the line between realism and fantasy, concocting an air of unpredictable tension. And in her first screen performance, dancer Chinchilla Araya delivers a fully embodied, unforgettable portrayal of furious longing.” -Philadelphia Film Festival
