" I am the monster’s mother "
— Sigourney Weaver, Alien Resurrection

MRQE Top Critic

Betty Blue

There can be beauty in tragedy, particularly when the key ingredient is the same in both —Marty Mapes (review...)

Betty arrives like a bolt from the Blue

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Ants in the Mouth tells a confusing tale of betrayal and revenge, set during the early 50s in Cuba.

Martin (Eduard Fernandez), a smug, unlikable Spaniard has come back to Havana after ten years to find the woman he loved, Julia (Ariadna Gil). Upon arriving, he talks to many of her friends and relatives who explain that while he was away, she fell off of a cliff one night while intoxicated. Martin later gets a tip that her “accidental” death was a hit ordered by Freddy (Jorge Perugorria), a senator who also happens to involved with organized crime.As Martin searches for the truth, dark secrets surface and his troubled past starts to haunt him.

The story quickly turns confusing once the “twists” and “surprises” start to turn up. Turns out Julia isn’t dead at all, but married to Freddy! Why her family and friends lied to him and why she married the man everyone says killed her are some of the questions that aren’t thoroughly explained.

The acting, rather than the story, makes this thriller worthwhile; Ariadna Gil particularly gives an excellent performance. Her powerful misery and longing are eerily conjugated to the tumultuous times Cuba was facing, while her chemistry with Fernandez is more than convincing.