THE UNSEEN VISITOR // A FILM REVIEW OF “FORASTERA”
BY MATEO MORENO
There is no one way through grief and as all of us have experienced it, in some way or another, we tend to move through it drastically differently. We may cry, we may laugh, we may seemingly become another person after losing someone close to us. Often, we “feel” that the person we lose is still near us, helping us through our grief. But what if they actually are still here and not in a typical horror movie “something to finish before they can move on” kind of way, but a more soft, gentle way? A way to help us through grief, to find understanding and peace. In the new film FORASTERA, we experience something very much in that vein and move through the grief cycle with a family who are suddenly thrust into mourning. We find Cata (Zoe Stein) and her sister Eva (Martina García) are spending the summer with their Grandparents, Catalina (Marta Angelat) and Tomeu (Lluís Homar). Cata is your typical teenager, full of life and full of stories; she relishes expanding on truths, such as her story of seeing a dolphin while kayaking that probably didn’t actually happen. But she’s a great storyteller and those around her never mind hearing her spin on facts. She’s happy to be with them but also wants to dedicate as much time with her summer love Max (Nonni Ardal Hammarström). All plans, however, come to a screeching halt when her Grandmother Catalina suddenly dies and Cata is the one who finds her. Her Grandfather is heartbroken and her Mother Pepa (Núria Prims) arrives to look after him.
However, things start to feel a bit strange after Catalina’s passing, especially with Cata. Something shifts in her. She isn’t the carefree teenager of just a few days ago. Sure, she’s in mourning and finding a loved one yourself is trauma within itself. But it’s more than that. She seems to “inhabit” something that’s different, something that isn’t her. She begins to wear one of her grandmother’s favorite dresses, claiming it as her own. She suddenly finds interest in cooking, even though she would never have done that days ago, yet it was one of her grandmother’s favorite things to do. She begins to smoke her grandmother’s cigarettes and becomes more occupied in helping her grandfather through his mourning than paying any more attention to her summer fling. She feels like another person, and maybe she is. Or maybe it’s grief. Forestera leaves that up to the viewer, though some elegant uses of sudden sunlight moving in strange ways seem to point in a certain direction. Yet by making it ambiguous, it leaves a breathtaking effect on the viewer. It’s like a whisper of an emotion, powerfully laying itself onto you minute by minute. Zoe Stein, as our eyes into this world, is a revelation. Her shift after her grandmother dies (and possibly inhabits her) is subtle and powerful, expertly anchoring the entire film on her fingertips. Her every movement brings a lingering sadness and catharsis. The film works so well because everything about her down to her gestures and her posture changes, mimicking her lost Abuela. The rest of the cast are also wonderful, especially Lluís Homar, who brings a heartbreaking sadness that’s all too relatable, and Núria Prims who’s commanding presence makes a wonderful flip to her daughter’s softness.
Writer/Director Lucía Aleñar Iglesias has crafted a truly exquisite film here. His expansion on his own beautiful short film (of the same name) further enriches this tale of mourning and aftermath and with the lush cinematography by Agnès Piqué Corbera, they have created a stunning, beguiling and truly original film. It’s a film that washes over you like a warm blanket, comforting and gentle and will sit with you long after the credits roll. It’s a film that’s not just to be watched but experienced.
GRADE: A
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Lucía Aleñar Iglesias STARRING Zoe Stein, Lluís Homar, Núria Prims, Marta Angelat, Martina García, Nonni Ardal, Nonni Ardal Hammarström. NOW PLAYING IN NEW YORK (FILM FORUM) AND SANTA BARBARA CALIFORNIA (SBIFF's FILM CENTER), WITH A LARGER ROLLOUT TO FOLLOW. FOR MORE INFO: https://filmforum.org/ and https://sbifftheatres.com/