Dir. Tomás Gómez Bustillo (2024)
A woman in a small Argentinian village discovers that faking a miracle could gain her sainthood.
Today, we're stepping a little bit outside of the horror box to cover an indie comedy split into two parts, a combination of two short films that tell one complete story. The two stories tell a beautiful tale of everlasting love, faux miracles, and blurred realities that represent some of the best film South America has to offer. At times hilarious, always heartfelt, and creatively brilliant, director Tomás Gómez Bustillo's new film Chronicles of a Wandering Saint is bursting with beautiful cinematography and brilliant performances. It's one of the better films I've seen this year, though it's definitely much more arthouse than mainstream and might not hit the spot for people who aren't accustomed to watching films like this.
Rita Lopez (Mónica Villa) is an older woman who is desperate to find a miracle. When she discovers an old statue that has been missing for years, she approaches her local priest to determine if it's the miracle she's been looking for, subsequently learning that the statue isn't the one she thought it was. With a little creative adjustment, however, she may be able to make her way to sainthood with a little bit of fakery and deception. Unfortunately, she almost immediately dies, finding herself in an in between world filled with angels and lost souls, along with her husband who has been trying to keep the spark alive after a forty-year marriage.
Chronicles of a Wandering Saint is fantastic, sweetly hilarious and a brilliant take on the afterlife and the things we leave behind. It's irreverent, but it's also earnest and profound. It represents the very best of arthouse indie comedy, a movie that will keep you smiling as it tugs at your heartstrings throughout. Villa is outstanding as Rita, the woman who paid too much attention to the unimportant things in life and seeks to atone in the brief period before her ascension to heaven. Horacio Marassi, is lovably aloof as her husband Norberto, and the audience is treated to a sad and weighty discussion of their relationship that yearns for closure from beyond the grave.
The absurdist comedy in the film never steps too far out of bounds, and while some of it is laughably ridiculous, it doesn't take itself too seriously and plays with its afterlife rules in a way that is charming and emotionally impactful. Bustillo tells his tale with a rare storytelling intelligence, connecting things that are both subtle and sharply witty. Chronicles is a film that will make you laugh out loud and just might make you cry along the way as well. it won't be for everyone, but it is a remarkable film nonetheless. For anyone looking for a film with some serious emotional depth, I cannot recommend it enough.
Who this movie is for: Indie movie lovers, Absurdist comedy fans, Lapsed Catholics
Bottom line: Chronicles of a Wandering Saint is brilliant and heartfelt, an indie absurdist comedy with some stellar emotional impact. Stars Villa and Marassi are phenomenal, and director Tomás Gómez Bustillo does a truly excellent job of telling a story that needs to be told. If you get a chance to check out this Argentinian film, I highly recommend that you do so. It's an outstanding film, and I've never really seem anything like it before.
