CineVegas 2009

While driving home one night, a middle-aged, bourgeois woman accidentally hits something…or somebody. She doesn’t know whether the victim was an animal, man, woman or, perhaps most chilling, a child. In the aftermath, the woman spends several disorienting days trying to retreat from her own severely warped mind and to acclimate back to high society. Lovers, family and friends do their best to console and convince her that she only hit a dog. But she remains unconvinced, horrified by the prospect it may have been a young boy.

Argetinian director Lucretia Martel’s third feature subtly locks us into lead actress Maria Onetto’s head, only letting us out once when we have pieced together some clues to her personal mystery. Touching on both psychological and social themes in a noir-like fashion, Martel has created a chilling film about guilt and class that requires thought, discussion, and analysis. Yet these requirements don’t make the film inaccessible — on the contrary, they make it all the more sweet, regardless of the viewer’s ultimate interpretation.