Clara Sola (2022)

Clara Sola (2022)

Clara Sola movie storyline. Clara lives on a small farm with her overbearing and extremely religious mother and her 15-year-old niece Maria (Ana Julia Porras Espinoza). Maria cares for her aunt, but she is also bursting with puberty and obsessed with preparing for her upcoming quinceañera.

A young man named Santiago (Daniel Castañeda Rincón) stops by regularly to rent their horse for local tourists (and sneak smooches with Maria). Clara and the horse—a white beauty named Yuca—have a powerful bond: it’s the only relationship where Clara gets to assert dominance. She makes a gesture, and Yuca understands and obeys.

Outside of that, Clara is condescended to, and basically led around, watched over, and stifled. Clara has been so totally repressed that there is no plausible outlet for self-expression. Any deviation from the mother’s expectation is viewed as rebellious, or “naughty,” or Clara just “acting out.”

Even more upsetting, Clara has been offered a free surgery to correct the curvature of her spine, and her mother refuses it saying, “God gave her to me like this. She will stay like this.” One wonders if Clara’s “brand” as a mystic healer would be tarnished if she herself had to be healed by modern medicine.

Santiago is the wild card, the Agent of Change in this changeless world. Something in Clara is activated by him, turned on by him, but then again, she’s turned on by a lot. A daytime soap opera gets her motor running. Her mother senses Clara’s sexuality and goes to great lengths to suppress it (even, awfully, rubbing hot chilis on Clara’s fingers to discourage masturbation). The “romance” between Santiago and Maria—forbidden, secret—draws Clara into its web. She peeks around corners at their embraces and caresses. Does she want to change places with Maria? What is this woman feeling? Does she even know?

Clara Sola is a 2021 drama film directed by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén. and starring Wendy Chinchilla Araya, Ana Julia Porras Espinoza, Daniel Castañeda Rincón, Flor María Vargas Chavez, Laura Román Arguedas, María Belén Román Quesada and Rodolfo Esquivel Gómez. It was selected as the Costa Rican entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.

Clara Sola Movie Poster (2022)

Clara Sola (2022)

Directed by: Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
Starring: Wendy Chinchilla Araya, Ana Julia Porras Espinoza, Daniel Castañeda Rincón, Flor María Vargas Chavez, Laura Román Arguedas, María Belén Román Quesada, Rodolfo Esquivel Gómez
Screenplay by: Maria Camila Arias, Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
Production Design by: Amparo Baeza, Agustín Moreaux
Cinematography by: Sophie Winqvist
Film Editing by: Marie-Hélène Dozo, Natalia Solórzano
Set Decoration by: Tatiana Chavarría
Art Direction by: Amparo Baeza
Music by: Ruben De Gheselle
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Oscilloscope
Release Date: July 1, 2022

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