About

'La Llorona' (the weeping woman) is a Hispanic-American legend which has provided the subject matter for a number of horror films. Here, though, director Jayro Bustamente's film takes the legend in a different direction by setting it within the context of historical oppression and the real-life genocide of the Mayan-Ixil indigenous population in 1980s Guatemala.

An ageing and paranoid former dictator and general, Enrique Monteverde - clearly based upon General Efrain Ríos Montt, who ruled Guatemala as a dictator in the 1980s - is on trial for war crimes and genocide. In the meantime, members of his well-to-do family are in varying stages of denial over his guilt.

Following an extraordinary court scene, with Mayan women testifying as to Enrique's horrific crimes, including systemic rape and murder by his men, campaigners lay siege to the family home, bearing images of 'the disappeared' (a recurring theme in Latin American cinema). This prompts the domestic staff to bolt out of fear. whilst the arrival of an enigmatic new maid, Alma, coincides with a series of increasingly strange and disturbing occurrences, including haunting noises in the night that only Enrique can hear. Although the question is never directly posed, is he being haunted by the eponymous La Llorona, the weeping woman of legend who cries for her lost children? With slow, unsettling camera moves and the deft use of sound, Bustamante conjures an increasingly claustrophobic atmosphere as the general is slowly forced to confront the evil deeds of his past.

Bustamante's slow-burn sociopolitical drama is a powerful, surreal film, which combines history, politics and myth, skilfully blending the supernatural and the political to make a powerful comment on Guatemala's failure to atone for crimes against its Mayan population. The real horror and evil here lies not in the supernatural but in the savage acts of men.

Shortlisted for the 93rd Academy Award for the Best International Feature Film and nominated for a Golden Globe, La Llorona went on to win 28 awards worldwide.