You have to watch Ricardo de Montreuil (La Mujer de Mi Hermano) latest film, Máncora, which premiered at the Miami International Film Festival last week – and not just because de Montreuil is from Peru like yours truly.
No. You have to watch it because of Elsa Pataky whom I’ve dubbed a woman on the verge of superstardom. (Is it too early to plug the May issue of Miami Living? Oops, I guess I just did.)
Máncora, which also screened at the Sundance Film Festival last winter, provides Pataky with a starring role in a movie by one of the most exciting talents to emerge from Latin America in recent years.
The movie follows the story of 21-year-old Santiago (Jason Day), a young man from Lima who escapes to the idyllic beach town of Máncora in northern Peru after his father’s suicide. Before leaving, though, his stepsister (by marriage) Ximena (Pataky) and her husband, Iñigo (Enrique Murciano), drop in on him and decide to come along for a journey that will change all of their lives forever.
But Santiago and Ximena are brother and sister. (Ish.) Who cares. It’s sexy, and it works in the context of the story.
The thing I liked about Máncora the most, other than seeing this pretty location captured on film, of course, was that, like Pataky says, the story is very real.
It’s young people, finding themselves – sure, by unconventional means – and carrying on with this knowledge to become better versions of who they are. It’s a coming-of-age story, and a pretty good one at that.
My Rating ***
Photo: Flickr.com.
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