The Wasteland

... holy(?) ghost? Actually not so holy ... on the other hand does it exist? And if it does, what is it? There are a lot of questions here, that you have to decide if there is a definitve answer for here. Because I think the movie remains quite vague - even when it is showing you things. Are they actually there? And if they are, what are they? Questions and more questions come up.

The actors are really doing a great job - there is nothing while at the same time there is so much. It may be called wasteland, but even in the empty space of nothing, our mind will fill in things - no pun intended. Depending on how much slack you are willing to give or cut the movie, you'll be able to enjoy this more or less than others who are watching it. I think the script needed a bit more work and maybe they needed a bit more time and money to realize certain things (not just effects)

Good performances, especially from the kid, who is desperately trying to make sense of it all, and to protect his mother. Also about how the safety measures that we erect around us could end up hurting us in preventing healthy growth.

'El páramo' is not a simple horror film. It is, in fact, a much deeper film with an interesting gaze towards fear, loneliness, the loss of loved ones and what remains after they leave.

David Casademunt, director of the film, lost his mother at age 15 and, according to his own words, the virus of fear settled in at his house for almost a year after the loss. This goes to show that the film is probably a therapeutic excercise to openly talk about what happened during that dark time, almost as dark as the film, and express how that 15-year-old teen felt during the process.

'El páramo' is narrated through the look of Diego (Asier Flores), a kid who feels lonely and whose loneliness increases as his parents vanish multiple times troughout the film, phisically, psicologically and literally.

This feeling of loneliness is probably the main topic of the film and is reinforced with love for film language through the use of recurring very long shots, where Diego becomes a small ant as compared to the inmensity of the portrayed landscape. What he loves and takes for granted is vanishing, as does his own integrity as a child, so he feels alone and abandoned to its own fate.

Casademunt proves that he knows what he's doing and understands how to craft a film, from story, to script, to camera movement and shot selection. Hopefully there's more of his work coming and we have news from him soon.

This movie had good acting, good cinematography, decent music, and the makings of a good story. Unfortunately the "story" is all sizzle without the steak. The story is confusing, never resolves in a satisfying way, and leaves the viewer trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It wants to create mystery like The VVitch but is nowhere near the sophistication in terms of writing and layers that the VVitch has going for it. If the VVitch is a 10 this is only half as good and trust me Im being generous. One other thing of annoyance is the way the characters, especially Diego, are ALWAYS so non-compliant when told to do something. The boy Diego never listens to his mom when she tells him to do something. He never listens to his dad. The mom doesn't listen to the dad or the son. The dad doesnt listen to the mom or the son. This constant and stupid defiance is exhausting. I hate people that don't listen! Anyways its worth a watch but keep expectations LOW.

80% of the movie is a hysterical mother screaming for her weakling "Diego", absolutely not a must-see, there are plenty of better movies than this snooze-fest.