When Ro
sa is expected
to hand he
r boss t
he suntan loti
on on a
deer hunt, th
is feels like
a sign.
Don Re
ynaldo’s ranch
is about t
o celebrat
e its fa
rm anniv
ersary, but
this pa
ssionate hun
ter’s image
is built on
a lie.
And so, here
in the countr
yside, whe
re men are men
, empl
oyees ar
e grate
ful subjec
ts and women
diligent
ly and d
ocilely
hold it
all together,
cracks
begin to a
ppear in t
he soci
al life of
this micr
ocosm.
Ordered
around day
in and d
ay out, unnoti
ced by those i
n her class-con
scious s
urroundings,
the meni
al Rosa gr
adually become
s an agent of
change. Whi
le Don Reyna
ldo’s exte
nded fa
mily contorts
itself in
a bid to s
ave the old ord
er, men
begin to arriv
e at the fa
rm in pi
ckup trucks.
Their appe
arance at
the fe
ast and a thre
at are
enough to
make the agein
g patriarch fea
r for h
is life and h
is fami
ly – and fo
rce him to act
. All that pass
es is obse
rved by t
he anima
ls who, eith
er as trophi
es on the wal
l or as liv
estock o
ut to pastur
e, seem to
sense the
end of an ol
d hegemony. Wit
h a keen s
ense of how to
deploy omen
s that heral
d chang
e, Alejandra
Márquez
Abella portray
s an epochal s
hift in rural
Mexico – as s
een by cha
racters who
are usually re
legated to pa
ssive suppor
ting roles.　　Wh
en Rosa is exp
ected to hand
her boss
the sunt
an lotion on
a deer hun
t, this fee
ls like
a sign.
D