Maternal

Maura Delpero

DISTRIBUTION

Luciana is a rebellious single mother. She lives with her daughter Nina in a women’s shelter run by a group of nuns in Buenos Aires. The arrival of Paola, a kind-hearted Italian nun whom Nina takes a liking to, coincides with Luciana’s disappearance. What follows is a delicately crafted and ultimately heartbreaking portrait of life in a women’s shelter.

A convent in a suburb of Buenos Aires runs a shelter for single mothers and their toddlers: a so-called “hogar.” The mothers are free, yet some feel constrained by the imposed rules. This is true of the outspoken Luciana, with her 4-year-old daughter Nina, and her best friend Fati, who is pregnant with her second child. One day, the quiet Italian novice Paola arrives at the convent. She is going through a probationary period before she is allowed to take her vows. When Luciana sneaks out of the convent at night to meet her new lover and doesn’t return, Paola steps in as a surrogate mother to the abandoned Nina. This is met with suspicion by Fati and the nuns. The three women each interpret motherhood in their own way.

“Maternal” is a sensitive and gentle film that prompts reflection on parenthood. The film and the direction of the actors are of a very high quality. Most of the girls are played by non-professional actresses. The contrasts between life within the convent walls, the sisters’ strict teachings, and the girls’ frivolity are beautifully portrayed.

A very delicate and sensitive film in which little is spoken, but everything can be read on the characters’ faces.