Sunday, March 19, 2023

La Jaula/The Chalk Line

Movie Name:
La Jaula/The Chalk Line
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Ignacio Tatay
Starring: Elena Anaya, Pablo Molinero, Eva Tennear, Eva Llorach, Carlos Santos, Esther Acebo, Eloy Azorin, Mona Martinez, Sonia Almarcha, Pau Roca
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review
"La Jaula" is Ignacio Tatay's feature directorial debut, following a few shorts he directed since 2007. The film focuses it's narrative on a Spanish couple who while coming home at night discover a young girl (around 8 years old), seemingly lost walking around on a dark road. They take her to the hospital, and the police gets involved, trying to identify who the young girl is. Paula and Simon keep visiting the young girl in the hospital, while her parents are being traced by the police. While the young girl's medical condition improves, she still does not talk, and refuses to go anywhere by herself. Paula and Simon take on the role of foster parents while more information is retrieved about Clara's origins. However the fostering ends up not going as well as expected, instead highlighting additional tension to Paula and Simon's relationship, who had been trying to get pregnant without much success. After Clara disappears, Paula starts researching cases of missing children, and finds a thread which leads her to the conclusion that Clara may not be who she thinks she is, and that she may be closer than even she anticipated. 
"La Jaula/The Chalk Line" has an interesting premise, in the sense that while the film initially appears to be a narrative about a child who has been abducted, it turns out as the narrative develops itself, it goes in a far more sinister direction than that. Sadly and where Ignacio Tatay fails to capture much attention is on the characters themselves. Paula and Simon have a limited bandwidth and arc in terms of showcasing who they are and what their motivations seem to be: they're presented as all consumed by the attempt of getting a child, and how taking care of the lost Carla seems to be a "poisoned" answer to their prayers. As additional characters come into the narrative, they also don't get much in terms of scope, aside from playing their roles through a very narrow funnel (meaning, the best friend who is just that, the same even going for the villainous figure who emerges). While the last chapter of this narrative tries to be an unexpected reveal (something that M. Night Shyamalan has trademarked), it fails to elicit much surprise or even shock since by then it has become quite obvious that this is all these characters are ever going to amount to. And implausibilities aside, the film fails to be consistent with its intentions alongside with the scenario and characters that has built all along. Elena Anaya's presence is a wonderful balm, since she's always consistently good in all her performances (please check Pedro Almodovar's "La Piel que Habito" just as an example), and once again tries her best with an underwritten role, but the supporting cast doesn't have much to do, and they all ultimately aren't able to sufficiently elevate this material. It's an interesting premise, but it needed a stronger directorial point of view, and better drawn characters. It's ultimately forgettable. 

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