The Holy Girl review

The Holy Girl
Directed by Lucrecia Martel

It’s all there in the synopsis, if you look for it; “The Holy Girl delicately explores themes of sin, frustration and desire.” We’re in modern day Argentina, and one fine day the teenaged Amalia (whose half-closed eyes give her the appearance of being perpetually drugged) finds herself in a crowd with a man rubbing up against her. The man, Dr. Jano, is attending a conference at the hotel where Amalia’s mother works, and, not realizing the two are mother and daughter, engages mom in a light flirtation. “Complications ensue”? Sorta, but as that synopsis says, “delicately” — meaning long, drawn out, and largely devoid of tension. Nor is the concluding payoff what you’d expect. I predict a film that divides audiences; post-screening, I actually heard one person say “I loved it” while another person described it as “horrible.” I found myself somewhere in between, feeling a decided sense of frustration — but a “delicate” one.

Plays 5/20, 9:30 pm, 5/21 11:15 pm, both at the Harvard Exit.