Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Natalia Santa
Starring: Estefanía Piñeres, Patricia Tamayo, Emmanuel Restrepo, Diego
Cremones
Colombian writer/director Natalia Santa's first film,
The Dragon's Defence, centred on three middle-aged men. For her latest she opts for a very
different protagonist, a young woman in her early twenties.
Mariana (Estefania Piñeres) lives a listless life. She works a dull
job in a call centre, spending any downtime between calls exploring foreign
cities on Google Earth. She fills her evenings between German classes and
visiting bars and nightclubs where she picks up older men. We quickly learn
that this isn't inspired by any incessant sexual cravings but rather because
she'd rather spend the night in the home of a stranger than return to her
overbearing, alcoholic mother (Patricia Tamayo), who constantly nags
Mariana about her lifestyle choices.
Indulging in sex on a purely utilitarian basis has caused Mariana to close
her heart to any potential romance. She attracts the attention of Gabriel
(Emmanuel Restrepo), a goofy but awkwardly charming young man from
her German class, but she initially rebuffs his cringey attempts to arrange
a date. It's clear Mariana enjoys his company, but she turns her face
whenever he makes her laugh, as though she's ashamed of her feelings. An
awkward courtship eventually develops, but while Mariana seems to have found
someone who makes her happy, she only becomes more determined to leave
Bogota, settling, somewhat randomly, on the island of Malta as a
destination.
Piñeres is fantastic in the role of the stubborn Mariana. She plays the
part like a kitten discovering its surroundings, always picking up things
and tasting stuff better left alone. She does a brilliant job of conveying
both Mariana's tough exterior and her warm centre, often
simultaneously. Piñeres and Restrepo are a delight together as two
outsiders who seem right for each other, which makes us root for Mariana to
open her heart.
The trouble with Malta is that its storytelling is as
meandering and unfocussed as its protagonist, so it's easy to drift out of
its narrative and forget what exactly it is we're supposed to be invested
in. A little more time devoted to Mariana's family may have helped flesh out
her own character, as the glimpses we get of her home life hardly explain
why she's willing to risk her life by hooking up with strange men.
Ultimately it's the performances of Piñeres and Restrepo that help us
navigate a film that often plays like a poor cousin of Greta Gerwig's
Lady Bird.
