Marta (Elena Andrada) is 17, from Barcelona and alternately bored and mortified to be on a Christmas vacation to Senegal with her estranged dad, Manel (Sergi López), and annoying little brother, Bruno (Ian Samsó). For her, the freedoms of imminent adulthood, such as the occasional poolside mojito, are tantalizing close but still technically forbidden, rather like the employees’ section of their resort hotel that is quarantined from the guests’ domain by a doorway marked “Staff Only.”
Catalan director Neus Ballús, in her calm, intelligent second feature after 2013’s docudrama “The Plague,” allows Marta’s coming of age to sensitively parallel, in unexpected ways, a clear-eyed critique of tourism in post-colonial regions. The film is mediated through a white Westerner’s experience rather than that of a local, but it is no white-savior narrative; if anything, it is a gentle dismantling of that myth from the inside, revealing the myopia and self-deluding...
Catalan director Neus Ballús, in her calm, intelligent second feature after 2013’s docudrama “The Plague,” allows Marta’s coming of age to sensitively parallel, in unexpected ways, a clear-eyed critique of tourism in post-colonial regions. The film is mediated through a white Westerner’s experience rather than that of a local, but it is no white-savior narrative; if anything, it is a gentle dismantling of that myth from the inside, revealing the myopia and self-deluding...
- 3/22/2019
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.