Spanish actress turned director Laura Mana delivers an enchanting fable, by turns funny and achingly poignant, and seasoned with a bit of magical realism. Opening in black-and-white and set in a dull, drab Mexican town, the inhabitants of the film are beset by a bad case of the doldrums: the... [More]

Spanish actress turned director Laura Mana delivers an enchanting fable, by turns funny and achingly poignant, and seasoned with a bit of magical realism. Opening in black-and-white and set in a dull, drab Mexican town, the inhabitants of the film are beset by a bad case of the doldrums: the kids are taciturn, the adults are listless, and the elderly are afflicted. Among them, Dolores (Elisabeth Margoni, LOVE, ACTUALLY) stands out as a pious, big-hearted, and lovable woman, but her husband leaves her because he finds her undiluted goodness difficult to stomach. Shocked, hurt and angry, Dolores goes to bed with the first man who asks her, and soon she is providing all of the love-starved men of the town with the intimacy they have been missing. The changes are immeasurable and color is brought back into the lives of all the villagers, until problems arise in the form of the local prostitutes whose business has been hurt. Dolores's husband also returns and demands a stop to her behavior, forcing Delores to make a difficult decision. Mana delivers a beautiful, life-affirming, feminist take on the conservative mores of small-town life. [Less]