Dir: Michel Franco Mexico 2012 103 mins Cert: CLUB
Starring: Hernan Mendoza, Tessa Ia Gonzalez, Gonzalo Vega Sisto, Tamara Yazbek Bernal, Francisco Rueda, Paloma Cervantes
Language: Spanish
Winner - Best Director, Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2012
In the aftermath of his wife's death in a car accident, Roberto and their daughter Alejandra move from Puerto Vallarta to Mexico City, where Roberto plans to open a restaurant. Alejandra quickly makes friends with the popular kids in high school, but when a drunken sexual experience gets recorded and circulated, she becomes the object of vicious bullying. She keeps it all a secret from her father, concerned for his state of mind in the wake of her mother's death. Roberto's struggle to cope with the loss of his wife blinds him to what's happening to his daughter until it's already gone too far. Winner of numerous awards, including the prestigious Un Certain Regard prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the searing After Lucia firmly establishes Michel Franco as a major talent. Employing a rigorous and highly personal style that favors subtext and visual clues over straightforward dialogue, Franco nails the emotionally devastating story, drawing restrained but intense performances from Hernan Mendoza and Tessa Ia Gonzalez. - Seattle International Film Festival 2013