Difficult
real estate markets force difficult decisions. Even though Juana suspects her
husband was acting under the evil influence of their new apartment when he
brutally assaulted her, she still refuses to move out. New Yorkers will
understand. The square footage is considerable, but the terrible feng shui
still makes their flat feel claustrophobic in Jimena Monteoliva’s Clementina, which screens today during the 2017 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
Mateo
beat Juana so badly, he induced a miscarriage, yet she insists on covering for
him when she wakes up in the hospital. The cop and social worker assigned to
her case assume she is simply too scared to identify him, but she clearly
believes there are extenuating supernatural circumstances. Yet, she insists on
returning to their flat, presumably so he knows where to find her.
Juana
shuts out everyone trying to help her, except their neighbor Olga. Sensitive to
the spirit world, she recommends Juana pay close attention to what the ghosts
are trying to tell her, especially when the unhinged Mateo finally returns.
Clementina is certainly a
moody film, but it is a bit muddled. There are times when Monteoliva and
co-screenwriter Diego Fleischer suggests the spirits intend to protect Juana,
but they certainly could have made the job easier if they had not pushed Mateo
into a state of violent psychosis. Granted, we are probably supposed to assume
it was always in him, deep down, but it only comes out in the fateful flat.
Regardless,
Clementina is rather smaller in scope
and more conventional than many of the films screening at this year’s festival.
Still, Cecilia Cartasegna gives a harrowing performance as Juana, powering the
audience through some questionable decision-making. Emiliano Carrazzone’s
menacing turn as Mateo will also have viewers holding their breath. However,
the film’s inconsistent attitudes towards the paranormal goings-on muddies its
effectiveness as a domestic violence parable. Frankly, Mateo is probably right
when he tells her they should cut their losses and bolt from the flat.
