Christian Ponce is quickly garnering a reputation as a leading creative in the Latin horror space. Best known for 2020 chiller History of the Occult as well as La Frecuencia Kirlian and Policompañeros Motorizados, the director masterfully blends supernatural narratives with biting social commentary offering terror on multiple levels. His latest offering, A Mother's Embrace, had its UK premiere at FrightFest Glasgow this year, treating audiences to a bombardment of unsettling imagery and dreamlike sequences set during Rio de Janeiro's devastating 1996 floods.
The eerie, Lovecraftian horror begins with a young girl, Ana, and her mother trapped in a burning apartment after a visit to their local fayre. Two decades later, Ana (Marjorie Estiano) is a firefighter and desperate to get back on active duty after a callout to an apartment block fire saw her freeze in terror, endangering the lives of others. Ana and her team – including senior firefighter Dias (Marjorie Estiano), co-worker Roque (Reynaldo Machado), and their driver Mourão (Rafael Canedo) – are called to investigate reports of a care home falling apart and at risk of flooding as a deadly storm batters Rio. As they assess the dilapidated building and begin to evacuate, they discover a horrifying and ancient secret in the bowels of the building that forces Ana to confront her traumatic childhood.
As the opening credits inform viewers, more than 300,000 people were displaced during the '96 floods and more than 300 tragically lost their lives. The natural devastation ratchets up the tension from the get-go, with the emergency services stretched thin and forced to unknown, desolate locations to protect as many as they can. The damp, grimy conditions of the nursing home amp this discomfort up further, and coupled with the vulnerable residents that refuse to leave the building and the unnerving care worker Ulisses (Javier Drolas), A Mother's Embrace is an anxiety-inducing nightmare. Even with only hints of the supernatural and dreamlike sequences in the first two-thirds of the film, its real-life horrors are more than enough to strike dread into the hearts of viewers.
While unrelentingly uncomfortable, A Mother's Embrace often struggles to juggle its narrative themes and plot threads, with the chaotic final act and gut-punching twist losing some of their impact as any real fear we could feel for Ana in her situation becomes muddled. What stops the film from derailing completely is its powerhouse performances, most notably from Estiano as Ana whose battle with her inner monsters – as well as that in the depths of the care home – are as gripping as they are thanks to her emotive turn in the complex role.
Released at a time when concerns over global warming and natural devastation are rife, A Mother's Embrace is a claustrophobic, sinister movie with threats at every turn. While it suffers from pacing issues at parts, its performances and Ponce's natural flair for strange and abnormal imagery that incites a guttural reaction make A Mother's Embrace an enjoyable yet thoroughly uncomfortable and skin-crawling watch.
A Mother's Embrace had its UK premiere at FrightFest Glasgow on March 8
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