Abel (Diego Luna, 2010): Mexico

Reviewed by Carolina Soto. Viewed at the Graum’s Chinese Theatre, AFI-Fest Hollywood.

Actor Diego Luna (Milk), can along with his documentary “J.C Chavés” put up his feature film Abel on his curriculum. He dives into the drama of a small town family in Mexico. The father left his family in misery which caused his older son Abel to suffer mentally, and the mother struggles alone to have afford for the medication for Abel. Diego Luna himself, got the idea when he and his wife expected their baby. He said “this is a kind of father I’d never want to be to my children”, and what kind of father that is, we get to know when we get caught by this drama with a pinch of comedy.

Abel (Christopher Ruíz-Esparza) is a little mexican boy who, by his mother’s wish, comes home from the hospital to live with his family in their house. Because that his father left the family, Abel has spent 2 years under psychiatric care at the town’s hospital, now the doctor want to move him to a hospital in Mexico City. His mother Cecilia (Karina Gidi), thinks that a couple of days at home will do him good, and hopefully he doesn’t have to move to the city. Abel leaves the snail and the garden at the hospital and comes home to a sister who dislikes the idea of him being at home, and a younger brother who doesn’t really care that he’s there. Mother Cecilia stresses to get him feeling comfortable. Pretty soon we realize Abel has taken the role of his absent father. The whole situation is sad, but Abel’s imitation brings us to laughter until his behavior gets too intense and crosses the line, which includes him loving his mother as a wife, and the missing dad comes back to disturb the little peace they had in the family…

Not only that this story is one of a kind, everything worked together, the setting, colors, the characters, all very genuine and credible. And the actors were very good, the two brothers in the movie Abel and Paúl were both very charming, and also as persons in real life. “Abel” shows the bad sides of a warm and caring family and how a important, but mindless, person can affect the people closest to him. This movie reminds of another movie called “Boy” by Taika Waititi, where also the absent father puts everything in motion. Keep your eyes open for “Abel” this upcoming spring, when it will be screening at the movie theatre.