When You Get to Become Yourself Halfway Through Your Own Life

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MOVIE REVIEW
Carmen
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Genre: Drama
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 1h 27m
Director(s): Valerie Buhagiar
Writer(s): Valerie Buhagiar
Cast: Natascha McElhone, Michela Farrugia, Steven Love.
Where To Watch: in NYC (Cinema Village) and LA (Laemmle Monica) with exclusive engagements in Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco (Bay Area), and more on September 23 with a VOD release on all major platforms.

RAVING REVIEW: There’s more than meets the eye here as we see a story about hypocrisy and overcoming the inherent wrongdoing of others.

Carmen, played by Natascha McElhone (THE TRUMAN SHOW, DESIGNATED SURVIVOR) *a face you know but maybe just not sure where from* is the caretaker of her brother, a local priest. When he passes away, the story takes off, and Carmen is on her own to figure out life outside of what she knows.

On the surface, the film is pretty straightforward, telling what happens when your life changes from everything you’ve known. Yet there is so much more to digest here; inspired by actual events, this story takes place on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Malta. McElhone takes this character through a true coming-of-age story thirty years later in life.

The traditions that the Maltese follow are brought to life here and shown how out of touch they are with the present day. The film was inspired by the aunt of director Valerie Buhagiar and the life her aunt lost because of living in servitude with a younger brother who became a priest. She became his literal maid and lost her own identity for decades because of it.

There are so many stories that need to be told, so many travesties that need to be brought to light. While the story is fictional, CARMEN is a story for Buhagiar’s aunt and a more extensive expose on the church and what they do to these women’s lives because of it. Though the film ultimately handles this in such an exciting way, letting Carmen escape and blossom into her being through an extensive list of trials and encounters she otherwise would have never gotten to experience.

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