Las fiestas

“You’ve been wanting to leave since you arrived,” María Paz tells her children, and she’s probably right. Sergio, Mali and Luz reluctantly agreed to spend Christmas in the country with their mother; in part because of the guilt they feel about saying no when she has just come out of the hospital after a heart attack, but also because it would be nice to escape from their frustrations for a while, and also because they’re thinking of the inheritance they will receive in a future that is not that distant anymore. Once they arrive, in between meals, walks, town parties, shared codes, things half said and heated arguments, tensions will arise. But, all in all, perhaps the siblings are there because, even if they’re not able to admit it, they also want to be together. With a solid cast, Ignacio Rogers’ second feature is a sharp portrait of the complexities in that chaos we call family.