'Madres' Review: The Latin Horror Film With Texas Roots Takes Its Cues From Real Life For A Story That Becomes An Investigative Thriller

Arlington TX

15 October, 2021

8:22 PM

Description

By Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report October 14, 2021 For director Ryan Zaragoza's debut feature "Madres" the El Paso native tackled a social issue that affected Mexican-American women during the 70s. The storyline sounds like warped science fiction but the intertitle at the end of the supernatural thriller indicates it was based on actual events. Cowritten by San Antonio native Marcella Ochoa, who was inspired by her grandparents' experience as migrant farmworkers, the film plays more like an investigative drama than flat-out horror. Another tie to the Lone Star State is lead actor Ariana Guerra who grew up in a border town near McAllen before attending the University of Texas. She plays Diana, a Mexican-American writer, pregnant with her first child, whose immigrant husband Beto (Tenoch Huerta from "The Forever Purge") just landed a job in Golden Valley, California as a supervisor overseeing migrant workers on a farm. Considering that Beto has only been in the U.S. for five years, it's an offer he couldn't pass up plus it comes with free room and board for his family in the form of a two-story home. Sure, it's old and creepy with peeling wallpaper (the perfect haunted house setting) but as he explains to Diana, "Don't look a free horse in the mouth." She corrects him, "gift horse." English is Beto's second language unlike Diana, who was born in the states and speaks little Spanish. The couple's cultural difference plays a significant role in the film. Diana is treated differently by the other Latinas because she isn't fluent in their language, and she doesn't believe in traditional Mexican folklore which includes help from a local curandera named Anita played by Elpidia Carrillo. FYI, Carrillo played young guerilla fighter Anna in 1987's "Predator" who warns Arnold Schwarzenegger and his men about their adversary, "It changed colors, like the chameleon, it uses the jungle." There's also a scene in the film where Beto performs a traditional egg healing on Diana. Anyone who's Hispanic and grew up in South Texas is probably familiar with the technique. My grandmother performed it on me several times during my adolescence. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.