Abel (Diego Luna, 2010): Mexico

Reviewed by Tommy Gilbert. Viewed at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, AFI Film Festival, Hollywood.

Charming, comic, and frightening, Abel is a film that reveals the hard life of a poor mother of three, living alone in Mexico. At the start of the movie, one of her children, Abel (Christopher Ruíz-Esparza), returns home from an extended stay at a hospital. It becomes clear after his search through old family photos that Abel is lacking a father figure, and consequently seems to try to make up for it on his own. Quickly, young Abel forms a new personality and takes the fatherly position in the house, behaving as his mother’s husband and his siblings’ father. As the rest of the family finally gets settled with Abel’s transformation, hoping not to send him into mental shock by denying him, complications arise when Anselmo (José María Yazpik), the children’s true father, returns to the house after having been away for two years. Cecilia (Karina Gidi), the children’s mother, struggles to maintain a stable life with the family while her husband creates more relationship drama by hounding her for questionable actions while he was away. The most remarkable aspect of Diego Luna’s first directed film, however, is its ability to not only make viewers roar with laughter, but also to make them hold their breath out of suspense and fear.

One of the ways that the film accomplishes this is through its beautiful setting and its lighting techniques. Taking place in an abandoned neighborhood in Mexico, on the edges of the rocky desert, the lighting is used ingeniously to enhance the uncertainty and fear. There are moments in the film where the lights in the house repeatedly flicker and even go out. The darkness that then enshrouds the characters mirrors the unknown of Abel’s future. Seemingly lost in his own mind, it is impossible to tell if there is truly any way to help him, and when the lights come back on, a shimmer of hope arrives with it. Additionally, the flickering lights aid in expressing the troublesome relationship between the parents that only worsens when Anselmo presses Cecilia for answers. One particular scene where lighting is especially significant involves Abel coming down the stairs in the middle of the night to witness his father and mother arguing. Shadow is cast on his face, and the fear that he might suddenly behave radically sets in. This foreshadows the events that unfold as the film progresses.

More than just the setting and lighting, however, the film is a masterpiece composed of brilliant cinematography, a fun and emotional soundtrack, stupendous acting, and sarcastic and simply natural comedy. If a film can take its viewer from sheer bliss to sudden terror, it has accomplished more than just being an interesting emotional ride. It has triumphed in its ability to stand alone as a unique and genuinely enjoyable work of art.