Tijuana, late 50's; young Martha Elba discovers love, shame, and family secrets in a home plagued by jealousy and her father’s nights in cabarets. Amid the turmoil of teenage desire and disillusions, she witnesses her parents’ relationship slowly disintegrate. Her gaze becomes that of a generation awakening, witnessing the end of innocence and the birth of doubt.
After Ella se Queda, a first spellbinding and unsettling cinematic gesture, Nabor draws inspiration from the adolescence of Marinthia’s maternal grandmother to craft an intimate and universal chronicle from family memories. We find once again the effervescence of the border town, the contradictions in times of change, and a young girl’s sharp perception as she faces the complexities of adult life. Moving subtly back and forth between realism and a dreamworld, the mise-en-scène captures the tenderness and fervor of a boisterous family, driven by its excesses, silence, and bursts of love. Marintha’s free and generous gaze unfolds with rare sensitivity. Her anachronistic, semi-experimental cinema stands out for its meticulous attention to sets and its use of a wide range of formats (35mm, 16mm, and 8mm), imbuing each visual choice with sophistication that fully enriches the narrative.
