Tótem

I'm not usually fan of children in films, but boy - Naíma Sentíes' performance here as the young "Sol" is terrific. She, replete with multicoloured curly wig is with her mother preparing for a party to celebrate her father's birthday. What we learn from very early on is that her dad "Tona" (Mateo Garcia) is very unwell. Indeed, from the brief scene we see of him in the shower - this is a twenty-seven year old not destined to survive much longer. Clearly that information is known amongst the man's family and friends with his sisters, and his father, taking quite distinctly differing…

The everyday lives of average individuals ordinarily might not make for especially engaging storytelling. However, when they’re framed within the context of extraordinary circumstances, they take on an added new dimension, as witnessed in the second offering from Mexican writer-director Lila Avilés. This warm, heartfelt, bittersweet comedy-drama tells the endearing story of a family hosting a birthday party for Tona, a young, beloved painter battling advanced cancer (Mateo Garcia Elizondo), told largely through the perspective of his seven-year-old daughter, Sol (Naíma Sentíes), who hopes…

Summary: 9/10: Lila Avilés and her extraordinary cast, led by Naíma Sentíes, create a slice-of-life and deeply humanistic portrait of family that finds hilarity, sadness, and love in the daily rhythms of a crowded Mexican household. Lila Avilés' Totem is a hilarious and heartbreaking slice-of-life that captures something most Westerners will find utterly alien: a crowded house full of family, the beautiful chaos of multiple generations living on top of each other, aunts and cousins and grandparents all moving through the same space with the fluid madness that comes from long practice. The…