Natalia López Gallardo’s debut feature, Robe of Gems, refuses to go down smooth. If its images make no concessions to audience comfort, that only sharpens López Gallardo’s vision of a Mexico numbed by horror and corruption. A Bolañesque waking nightmare, the film insists that we come to terms with it rather than straightforwardly enjoy it.
After the collapse of her marriage, Isabel (Nailea Norvind) and her two children, Vale (Sherlyn Zavala) and Benjamín (Balam Toledo), hole up in her mother’s villa in the countryside. It’s there that they reconnect with their domestic worker, Maria (Antonia Olivares), who suspects her missing sister of being kidnapped, and Isabel tries to help find out what happened. Meanwhile, the local police chief (Eugenia Salazar) goes through the motions of an investigation, even as she struggles to keep her teenage son, Adàn (Juan Daniel García Treviño), from falling in with criminal elements,...
After the collapse of her marriage, Isabel (Nailea Norvind) and her two children, Vale (Sherlyn Zavala) and Benjamín (Balam Toledo), hole up in her mother’s villa in the countryside. It’s there that they reconnect with their domestic worker, Maria (Antonia Olivares), who suspects her missing sister of being kidnapped, and Isabel tries to help find out what happened. Meanwhile, the local police chief (Eugenia Salazar) goes through the motions of an investigation, even as she struggles to keep her teenage son, Adàn (Juan Daniel García Treviño), from falling in with criminal elements,...
- 9/10/2023
- by William Repass
- Slant Magazine
I made the mistake of worrying about plot while watching Natalia López’s feature directorial debut Robe of Gems. The synopsis dares you to worry with its talk of three women colliding courtesy of a missing person in Mexican cartel territory, asking us to wonder how things will resolve. Except we already know. The bodies found in landfills and marshes throughout the film prove it. If those who are kidnapped aren’t already found dead, you can assume they will be soon. That doesn’t mean María (Antonia Olivares) won’t continue to hope for her sister’s return, though. Nor does it stop her recently-returned-to-the-countryside boss Isabel (Nailea Norvind) from joining the cause. Add Roberta’s police chief (Aida Roa) to the mix and know the woman’s memory isn’t forgotten.
The problem with having expectations for a resolution, however, stems from the fact that María’s sister...
The problem with having expectations for a resolution, however, stems from the fact that María’s sister...
- 2/11/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Veteran editor Natalia Lopez Gallardo’s feature directing debut Robe Of Gems screens in competition today at the Berlin Film Festival, check out the first trailer above.
Set in the countryside of Mexico, the film sees the fates of three women collide when the case of a missing person leads them on a path of pain and redemption.
Robe Of Gems stars Nailea Norvind, Daniel García (Narcos) and newcomers Antonia Olivares and Aida Roa.
In the midst of divorce, Isabel (Norvind) settles in the countryside where she discovers that her housekeeper María (Olivares) has a missing sister. When Isabel offers her help, an unspoken pact to find the missing one is born between the two women. Meanwhile, Roberta (Roa), the local police commander, hopes to rescue her son from the criminal underworld, and ends up crossing paths with Isabel and María. Their destinies come together in...
Set in the countryside of Mexico, the film sees the fates of three women collide when the case of a missing person leads them on a path of pain and redemption.
Robe Of Gems stars Nailea Norvind, Daniel García (Narcos) and newcomers Antonia Olivares and Aida Roa.
In the midst of divorce, Isabel (Norvind) settles in the countryside where she discovers that her housekeeper María (Olivares) has a missing sister. When Isabel offers her help, an unspoken pact to find the missing one is born between the two women. Meanwhile, Roberta (Roa), the local police commander, hopes to rescue her son from the criminal underworld, and ends up crossing paths with Isabel and María. Their destinies come together in...
- 2/11/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
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