Die Knochenfrau

Despite some cool horror scenes, Huesera is a boring, slow-paced drama that doesn't really go anywhere, nor does it leave any sort of message.

In the film there is the subplot of the main character and her gay relationship with her best friend, which is used as an excuse that she has a second identity, but this relationship never really comes to anything relevant, and neither does her relationship with her husband to be honest. It is simply the typical dose of mandatory forced inclusion these days.

Also many of the decisions and actions of the characters (especially some very important ones) are quite questionable, not to say stupid, and it is impossible not to cringe at the protagonist every time. Not to mention that the acting, especially of the main characters, is quite mediocre. It seems that in order not to include any caucasian characters (because there are no caucasians in Mexico, of course) they chose any actor they could find.

In itself a boring movie as a drama, and dull as a horror, Huesera fails twice as much.

This should not be categorized as a horror movie. You can see from other reviews that people are upset at their expectations not being met. Although it does have some horror-like scares, it is a different experience altogether, more of a character study. However, the way that the story unfolds requires patience and an open mind. There are some allegorical elements that are not explicitly made clear in the movie. This could lead to some viewers feeling like the story leaves too many details unexplained. I thought it was well-written and gave an interesting look into the experience of a young Mexican woman dealing with the limited options imposed on her by family and society. The few supernatural elements sprinkled in are a smaller part of the story, which is mostly a psychological drama. I ended up liking the main character, so that influenced my enjoyment of the film, but not every viewer is going to understand or support her choices.

"Huesera" begins with "Valeria" dropping off flowers at the base of the Virgen Monumental de Ocuilan and ends right after she participates in a restorative, native rite. In between, we find out that Valeria is a former punk-rocker with a love of bass guitars, power tools and a certain "Octavia." What is she in the present?

That is the central question is this rather well-done entry. The Valeria of the present is a woman who has (uneasily) embraced a conventional marriage to "Raul," an ad exec with wealthy parents. She lives in an upscale apartment, and she is pregnant with their first child. Yet as time passes, she appears to be the victim of increasingly violent hallucinatory episodes that lead her family and husband to grow both concerned for and irritated with her. "Pull it together," is the implied mantra; "a child is a blessing."

While the obvious comparison is to "Rosemary's Baby," the film - to its credit- veers more in the direction of such psychological thriller/horror films as Altman's "Images." And despite a fairly large cast, this movie really is about a single woman's POV - Valeria (played here by Natalia Solián) - and it is her world -- her frustrations, her fears, her sense of ambiguity, rejection and pain -- that are front and center for the duration of the film. Her attempts to negotiate the expectations of others -- often cruelly rejected by those others -- lead her to an increased debilitation that almost result in absolute tragedy. It is her (similarly outcast) aunt who helps her on her way to a restoration of self.

The film is a definite slow burn. But if you enjoy a more overtly psychological exploration of a woman-at-the-margins, torn between seemingly opposing social contexts, this might work for you.

In 1929, Virginia Woolf argued that centuries of calcified gender roles and financial disparity had prevented women from realizing their true potential. To become whole, she thought they needed agency, control over their own lives that she expressed in the idea of "a room of her own."

For Woolf, that room was her own writing garret in a house she shared with her husband. For Valeria, the heroine of this movie, it is the craft room in the apartment she shares with her husband, Raul. That room is where she makes the furniture she sells for a living.

Valeria's room is the first thing she has to give up when she becomes pregnant. The next is apparently anything she is entitled to say or think about her own body, which is what we see as her husband and family decide what is best for her without even acknowledging that she is in the room. And so develops the theme of the movie.

Not all women want children. They may love them and want what is best for them, but they know that they don't what to take care of them. They also may not be attracted to or want to love a man.

The idea of being voluntarily childless and with another is hard enough in the US, but almost impossible in a place like Mexico where gender roles are more deeply defined. Valeria CAN'T be the woman Raul and her family want her to be, even if she wants to be. Her struggle to please them makes her feel like her very bones are breaking.

This movie uses the Mexican legend of "La Huesera" to tell women to embrace who they are. La Huesera is a spirit who collects wolf bones. When she has enough bones, she calls the wolf's spirit to come back to inhibit them. When the wolf does, they both run free.

In this movie, Valeria has to make hard choices to run free. But she does.

The movie isn't a horror movie. It's a parable about accepting yourself as you are, no matter what the cost is.

Valeria just found out she is pregnant, and she and her husband Raul are ecstatic. We then notice her withdrawing a bit from Raul with her joy and enthusiasm dwindling. One night, she witnesses a woman jump from her apartment window, but all is not what it seems.

Soon after, Valeria starts sensing and seeing things. Is it her imagination? Is she hallucinating? Or is it something far more sinister? If you've watched 'Huesera: The Bone Woman', then the answer will be obvious, but I'm not doing spoilers here for those who haven't seen it yet!

The film offers so many creepy moments and disturbing images. This is not your average Hollywood-style possession movie and some viewers might be disappointed in that regard. The narration makes the viewer wonder and question what is real, and what is a figment of Valeria's imagination. It also doesn't explain everything as clearly as most mainstream movies do. Either way, it makes for a disturbing watch in the vein of 'Under the Shadow', while the ending (sort of) reminded me of 'The Witch'.

The film takes a bit of a dip around the end of the second act and into the third, but Natalia Solián's fantastic performance as Valeria kept me interested and wanting more. The ending is not what I expected, but then again, this is not your average horror movie and it is unpredictable.