The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
Set during 1973 in Los Angeles, social worker Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini) visits Patricia Alvarez (Patricia Velásquez) due to her sons’ truancy from school. When Anna finds the children locked in a closet, Patricia attacks her and is arrested by the police. Patricia's sons, Carlos and Tomas are then taken to a child-services shelter, where Anna assures them they’ll be safe. However, that night, the boys are attacked by a spectral woman in a white dress and are later found drowned in a river. When Anna is called out to the scene she brings her own children, Chris and Sam, who wait in the car. Patricia, accused of her sons' murders, screams that it is Anna's fault and that they were taken by "La Llorona". Sam leaves the car to hear what his mother is discussing and is grabbed by the wrist by the same woman that attacked Carlos and Tomas. A red mark is left on his arm. The next day Anna interviews Patricia while she’s in custody. She reveals that she has prayed to "La Llorona" for the return of her own children and to take Anna’s instead.
The Curse of La Llorona is part of the The Conjuring Universe franchise, although its links to it are somewhat tenuous. The film features a brief appearance by Tony Amendola as Father Perez, who previously featured in Annabelle (2014). However, beyond this reference The Curse of La Llorona is very much a standalone production. Directed by Michael Chaves who has a background in short films and web series, it is handsomely photographed and features some interesting visual compositions The seventies setting doesn’t really contribute much to the proceedings other than remove a lot of modern technology and hence further isolate the Tate-Garcia family. The supernatural set pieces are inventive both in their construction and execution. There’s a nice scene where a child sees the weeping woman but only through her clear umbrella. The emphasis is upon jump scares and ghoulish imagery, as opposed to violence and gore. However, beyond its technical merits The Curse of La Llorona is somewhat lacking.
Despite the presence of Linda Cardellini who does her best as a single mother facing a supernatural threat, the script by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis is perfunctory and uninspired. It moves from A to B efficiently but without any originality. The central characters are all archetypes and have little or no depth. Despite touching upon some interesting ideas, many are all squandered. For example Anna Tate-Garcia is a widower whose husband was a Hispanic police officer. Given the time in which the movie is set, this could have been explored further. Another plot point that falls by the wayside is why former priest Rafael Olvera (Raymond Cruz) left the church. Was it a question of bureaucracy or methodology? And then there is the “weeping woman” herself. I have no problem with the horror genre keeping their antagonists as an enigma but this one is especially vague and her actions somewhat illogical.
One of the selling points of The Curse of La Llorona is that it offers a Hispanic perspective on the supernatural and the scope to examine cultural traditions. Horror films too often focus on European Christian dogma and their interpretation of ghosts and demons. But the interesting crossover between Catholicism and traditional Hispanic superstition that is alluded to, is again neglected. The production seems more focused on contriving jump scares but they really only work as a technical exercise and don’t actually do much for the overall story being told. Therefore, many genre fans will consider The Curse of La Llorona to be “filler”. Formulaic and serving a basic purpose but not attempting to do anything out of the ordinary. It’s a shame in a way as with a bit more thought and possibly just an additional ten minutes or so, this could have been a far more rewarding film with something new to offer.
