Little Luna (Ivanna Sofia Ferro) suffers from a serious illness. She has a digital device attached to the back of her neck that tracks her heartbeat. When she suffers an attack the seizures begin and she requires an EpiPen type needle plunged into the opening on the device to bring her heartbeat back to normal and stop the attack. Her older sister Nala (Paola Miguel) that shares a room with her sister is over the whole Luna thing. Everything is about Luna. She gets all of her parent's affection. The family lives in a building where the children are all getting sick. Plus she is about to be dragged out to the middle of nowhere as her parents do anything they can think of to find a new treatment for their youngest daughter. The family head out to Josefa's (Ofelia Medina's) house. This is where Mom Rebecca (Samantha Castillo) grew up. Josefa is introduced to the girls as their Grandmother. She lives in a big old three story home with spacious grounds but the interior seems cold, eerie and parceled off. Nala has the immediate sense that something is not right in the home. She is also keen to pick up on the very outward tension between her Grandmother and Mom.
Director Isaac Ezban came across the script for the film in 2016. A coming-of-age horror from the Dominican Republic. Ezban thought the story had potential but felt it could use some tweaking. The central element of the story The legend of the three sisters remained. Ezban added his signature themes of exploring the passage of time the push/pull of getting older or young and duplicity as he picked up a co-writer credit. The tale of the triplets is touched on briefly at the start of the film. The legend is driven home with force by Josefa's housemaid Abigail (Paloma Alvamar). As she expertly weaves the tale her hand movement and gestures are just as or even more pivotal in the retelling of the tale that the words she speaks or the images on screen to supplement the telling.
A day into the visit Mom Rebecca and Dad Guillermo (Arap Bethke) leave the girls with their Grandmother as they head out further into the countryside to a dangerous area to secure the risky last ditch treatment method for their young daughter. Back at Grandma's an epic battle of wills commences between Josefa and Nala. Josefa finds her Granddaughter to be as stubborn as her Mother was at that age. Josefa has the upper hand as the battle takes place on her home turf. But Nala's suspicions that were only inklings when she first entered the country house grow real as she sleuths finding out more than she bargained for about her family history.
Mal de Ojo features several layered and meaty female performances. Starting with Ivanna Sofia Ferro as young Luna who is positive and hopeful despite her serious illness that has stopped responding to any form of conventional treatment. Ofelina Medina's portrayal of Josefa is strict, blunt, tough and faithful to her set of rules and routines. Between them lies Paolo Miguel's Nala. At first, a vapid angry teen tethered to her phone seemingly neutral to the plight of her much younger ill sister. Then evolving into Luna's best defender risking her personal safety and facing severe consequences and punishment to protect her sister and keep her safe. It's a descent at first slowly into the tradition of Dominican and Mexican folklore that quickly plunges into visceral ritual and sacrifice leaving the siblings and audience alike struggling to catch their breath as they hang on while the story twist and turns before flipping everything up and over again.
*** 1/2 Out of 4.
Mal de Ojo | Isaac Ezban | Mexico | 2022 | 120 Minutes.
Tags: Folklore/Horror, Sisters, Triplets, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Illness, Witch, Witchcraft, Baca Black Magic, Curse, Evil Eye, Skin, Salt.
