My Second Film From the San Sebastián International Film Festival

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MOVIE REVIEW
Daughter of Rage (La hija de todas las rabias)
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Genre: Drama
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director(s): Laura Baumeister
Writer(s): Laura Baumeister
Cast: Virginia Raquel Sevilla Garcia, Carlos Gutierrez, Noé Hernández, Ara Alejandra Medal
Maria, Diana Sedano
Where To Watch: Premiering at SSIFF on September 20th

How much raw emotion can fit into one film? A lot and then some! From director Laura Baumeister and “only the fifth feature film from Nicaragua and the first directed by a Nicaraguan woman.” This was a powerhouse of emotions and consistently pulled on those emotions throughout the film’s runtime. Just thinking about the film and its storyline is hard even to process, realizing that although this is a work of fiction, there are likely many stories like this around the world.

A few hiccups throughout but in general, Baumeister delivers a powerful film with a message of what life is like and what it could be like; the power of imagination and the destructive nature of having to make choices in life. That isn’t to say that the film is all sorrowful, but this isn’t something I would consider a lighthearted watch.

Some interesting parallels between the story, the surroundings of the film, and the interactions between the cast and the world around them offer a unique view. The biggest struggle in the movie is based solely on a choice that lead Virginia Raquel Sevilla Garcia (Lilibeth) has to make and the repercussions that occur to her because of it. Ara Alejandra Medal (María) plays Lilibeth’s daughter in the film and is the lifeforce of the film, the eternal optimism of a child put onto the screen contrasting her life and the world around her.

At its core, the film offers up messages about our world but is hidden within the struggle of a mother-and-daughter relationship. The way Baumeister pulls us throughout this rollercoaster in a garbage dump (literally) is incredible power; seeing the contrast between what we would think are the “worst conditions in the world” and those who take it as everyday life makes the entire film worth the watch.

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