La Llorona by Jayro Bustamante
The Museum of Modern Art in New York City will screen two Latin American horror films as part of ‘Horror: Messaging the Monstrous,’ a 10-week film series highlighting foundational works and key films that capture horror’s uncanny ability to embody the lurking fears evoked by evolving social, cultural, and political change in the world.
Featured in the Folk Horror section of the series are the Guatemalan film La Llorona by Jayro Bustamante, screening on Thursday, August 18; and the Mexican film Tigers Are Not Afraid by Issa López, screening on Sunday, August 21. The series is programmed by Ron Magliozzi, Curator, and Brittany Shaw, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Film, with Caryn Coleman, guest curator.
The Guatemalan entry in the 2019 Oscar race, La Llorona is a bold reimagining of the legend of the weeping woman, a roaming ghost haunted by the death of her children. After standing trial for war crimes, retired General Enrique Monteverde's (Julio Diaz) estate in Guatemala City is surrounded by demonstrators, reminding Monteverde of the irreplaceable lives lost, despite his guilty verdict. Unrest outside bleeds indoors, as the family's Mayan-Ixil housekeepers swiftly resign their posts. The arrival of Alma, a new maid, brings all of Monteverde's paranoid fears to the fore. A seamless hybrid of psychological horror and interior drama, ably directed by Jayro Bustamante, La Llorona succeeds as a tactile, contemporary take on a timeless folktale.
Issa López’s heartbreaking urban fairytale Tigers Are Not Afraid follows a group of orphaned children who live together on the streets of Mexico after their parents are killed by the drug cartel that runs the city. Our 11-year-old hero, Estrella, joins the gang after she realizes that her mother is never coming home. Luckily, she has recently been given three magical wishes after a tragedy at school that she uses to protect her new family and, ultimately, to seek retribution against those responsible for their pain. In the great tradition of Guillermo del Toro, this unrelenting, darkly violent ghost story, which uses magical realism to emphasize the struggles of these young victims of the ongoing Mexican drug wars, will haunt you forever.
For more information visit: https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/5486.
