Movies about grief can be a complicated watch, and yet Lucía Aleñar Iglesias’s Forastera is both a sad reminder that, at some point, it will find us all, and a story about how, sometimes, through pain, healing can be found. What’s that quote? Happy families are all like, each unhappy family is unhappy in their own way. May we all find a way to become that boring, happy family.
The story follows Cata (Zoe Stein), who, alongside her sister Eva (Martina García) is spending the summer vacation in Mallorca with her grandparents Catalina (Marta Angelat) and Tomeu (Lluís Homar). It’s a simple, uncomplicated summer, until Catalina passes away. Then, as their mother Pepa (Núria Prims) arrives, the real family exploration begins.
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For Cata, who in many ways steps into the role of her namesake grandmother, Catalina—a role that seems to suit her, even if she never really saw herself in it. Then, for Tomeu, who at times seems to see his wife in Cata, and for Pepa, who somehow finds herself regressing into adolescence while he tries to adjust to the absence. Whether that is just the way of grief, or Catalina’s spirit somehow lives on in Cata, or in the house, that’s for every viewer to decide. The movie is about exploring what happens after.
After death. After what that death brings out in every one of Catalina’s loved ones. And all while inhabiting a very small, secluded space. There’s no avoiding the pain, just as there’s no avoiding each other for these characters, and that can be both a catharsis and the worst thing to ever happen to you, when you don’t know how to face your feelings or even how to name what you’re feeling in the first place.
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Forastera isn’t a movie of twists; there are no gimmicks in how this family deals with their issues or their feelings. Instead, this is about the slow exploration of characters and their feelings. Sometimes, in loss, you see clearly. Other times, loss can blind you. How does a family reconcile these two extremes to be able to be there for each other in their time of need? Forastera puts these characters in the position to answer that question, and then delivers a profound exploration of how the answers are different for everyone.
Family, grief, healing, and identity come together in a movie that deftly explores what it is to be who you are, what we carry with us from those who have left us, and how those circumstances can and do change us. It’s no wonder the movie won the TIFF’s FIPRESCI Award, or the International Federation of Film Critics’ Prize. But you don’t need to be a film critic to enjoy this one. You don’t even need to have experienced grief. This is a movie about feelings, one that everyone can and probably will enjoy.
Forastera screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.
