Impossible Things

A film set in Mexico. Matilde is in her sixties. Her husband has just died and she is living alone for the first time. The marriage was not good. Porfirio had treated her badly since she was fifteen, and after his death he still does not leave her mind. He appears in the house. Matilde talks to him, answers him, and mentions it to nobody. She is not exactly alone. She has her cat Fidel, and her financial situation gets worse every day. Miguel is the neighbour downstairs. He is nineteen; he does uncertain work, has no peace at home, and is on bad terms with everyone in the building. The two meet on the stairs. From there the film is a story of friendship. A meal, a repair, a loan, a night and an argument. Miguel teaches her something. Matilde makes her own decision for the first time and does it without asking anyone. Matilde gives him something too. For the first time in his life he meets someone he can talk to without having to account for himself. What the narrative is interested in is not the difference in age but becoming free: the film pulls both of them out of a life decided by other people. The husband's presence is built not as a ghost but as a habit. The narrative does not make it supernatural; it shows it as a voice inside her. The tone is warm but there is no wringing of feeling. The narrative does not push the pain forward and it has humour as well. The screenplay is by Fanie Soto and had won first place in a competition for women screenwriters. Nora Velázquez, Benny Emmanuel and Luisa Huertas are in the cast. Ernesto Contreras directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes small-scale Latin American drama and two-character stories. Who it is not for: anyone looking for incident; the film is almost entirely two people's daily life and the pace is very low.