Int’l Critics Line: Anna Smith On Guatemala’s Golden Globe Nominee & Oscar-Shortlisted ‘La Llorona’
Horror is woven into political drama in La Llorona, the riveting Golden Globe Foreign Language Film nominee and shortlisted International Feature Oscar contender from Guatemala’s Jayro Bustamante. An elderly wealthy man hears ghostly noises in the night. He is revealed to be former army general Enrique Monteverde (Julio Diaz), on trial for genocide. In court, Mayan-Ixil women give heartbreaking testimonies about systemic rape and murder by his men. At home, his own family begins to question his innocence of sex crimes and war crimes. Is Enrique being haunted by the eponymous La Llorona, the weeping woman of legend who cries for her lost children?