“Huesera: The Bone Woman” is a frustratingly ambiguous exercise in body horror. The personal story, sophisticated vision, and proficient direction from Michelle Garza Cervera makes the film seem more thoughtful and worldly than similar projects, but you can’t help but mourn the wasted potential that consumes it all.
In this maternal nightmare, pregnant Valeria (Natalia Solián) and her husband Raúl (Alfonso Dosal) are bursting with joy as they await the day they become first-time parents. With motherhood quickly approaching, Valeria is overcome with self-doubt and dread. She begins having supernatural visions of spiders and other demons, which darkens her mood even further. Hoping to quiet the fear and anxieties in her head, Valeria decides to rekindle her old relationship with Octavia (Mayra Batalla), her first love.
Cervera (who co-wrote the script with Abia Castillo) weaves Mexican folklore and horror elements into her story, but most of the traditional scary movie tropes are abandoned in favor of weighty, intellectual themes. There’s a robust political component to the narrative, delving into the idea of a woman’s right to choose, how society views the role of the female within a family unit, the mental anguish of post-partum depression, and the basic concept of motherhood. It’s calculated and smart, but not very entertaining.
Most of the film falls victim to its slow pacing, especially the sluggish start (thankfully a shocking moment jump starts the narrative, and the best part is packed within the last ten minutes). Cervera makes some effective directorial choices, but her imagery (including disturbing occult rituals) only looks terrifying and is not genuinely scary. Instead, she goes for the more pensive angle that embraces theming and symbolism versus one that’s designed to please a crowd. This will disappoint genre fans looking for a classic, entertaining horror movie.
“Huesera the Bone Woman” is creepy, thoughtful, intense, and teeming with complex ideas about religion, motherhood, and autonomy, but there’s just not enough to carry this body horror film across the finish line.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 