After the unexpected death of her father, Elena, a transgender woman, returns home for the first time in years. Her arrival creates shockwaves through the seemingly well-adjusted household, with many, including Elena's own mother, not knowing how to respond to Elena,someone that they last knew as a young, quiet boy. Mauricio Lopez Fernandez's The Guest is a powerful and extremely well-made film about the stupidity of judgement and importance of finding acceptance from the ones you love. While The Guest is undoubtedly a melodrama in terms of story, the film's craft makes the film feel more like a horror film, as the filmmaker injects the whole story with a quiet, brooding sense of dread. The photography is very similar to how a horror film would be shot, evoking tension throughout, an idea that works beautifully at capturing the inner psyche of Elena, a woman who feels like a complete stranger around her own family. While Elena's sex change is never acknowledged by any of the family out-loud it's clear that Elena's mother and others are physically and emotionally keeping themselves at a distance, viewing Elena as something strange. At one point an character even tells one of the maids to make sure the kids don't spend much time with Elena, one of the more blunt moments in The Guest that speaks to this perception that Elena as a transgender is some type of sideshow in which the family chooses not to address nor except. While the story of Elena eventually gaining acceptance from her mother is the emotional core of the film, what stood out to me about The Guest is how the filmmakers slowly reveal the fractured, damaged character dynamics that exist in the household, doing so in a way that reminded me somewhat of Lucrecia Martel's La Cienaga. From the head man and woman of the household, to the maid who seems to harbor some old feelings for Elena's old self, The Guest revels how everybody in the household has struggles and issues, serving as a beautiful juxtaposition that speaks to the stupidity of judging someone just because they are different, as many characters viewed Elena as different due solely to her gender change. Extremely well crafted, understated, unsettling, and emotionally resonant, Mauricio Lopez Fernandez's The Guest is an impressive first feature.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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