★★★½
“Unhappy birthday.”
If it hadn’t been for the lack of an ending, this would likely have got a seal of approval. The problem is, this web series came out in 2017, and as we close in on a decade later, I am beginning to suspect we may never see all the loose ends addressed. It begins with a quinceanera party, the traditional Mexican celebration to mark the coming of age of a young woman. In this case, it is being thrown in honour of Alejandra Santos (Xitlali), whose father Reynaldo (Mendoza) runs a Mexican restaurant. She really doesn’t want to be there, and her doubts prove well-justified, because it gets gate-crashed by Chavo Del Rio (Retamal) and his thugs.
I was going to tag this as “Die Hard at a quinceanera“, since initially that’s what seems to be happening. Turns out Dad made a business deal with very sketchy people to “hold” various items. When some of these go missing, he is blamed (it’s actually due to ne’er-do-well son Santiago and his pal), leading to the unexpected arrival of Chavo. Reynaldo’s denials lead to things getting very bloody, but Alejandra is able to get the drop on one of the thugs: there’s a death by sceptre which has to be the most symbolic weapon used, since Zoe Tamerlis used an iron to crack a rapist’s skull in Ms. 45. It’s after this, where things divert significantly from the expected route.
I will admit that Alejandra’s transition from truculent teenager to avenging angel is rather abrupt. However, it does eventually become clear that she has a lot of heritage on her side, not least her abuela or grandmother (Reynoso), who clearly has some history of her own. Indeed, on the Del Rio side there’s no shortage of bad-add mujeres either: the matriarch, Bertila (Bertila Damas), has some very strong views on this topic. By the end, it’s almost girls with guns the whole way down on both sides (albeit for some quite loose definition of “girls”, in regard to their age!). There has been a lot of ground covered, in around only seventy minutes: this is a web series of seven episodes, each being little more than ten minutes long.
I was very surprised to discover this was a Canadian production, filmed in and around British Columbia. There’s a strong Southwestern feel (something I’m familiar with, living just a couple of hours from the Mexican border), and I will certainly be checking out more from the makers. At first, I had concerns it would end up being more of a teen soap opera – think The OC, with a side of salsa. Fortunately, the company name, Luchagore Productions, is a clue that it won’t pull its punches: I think the moment I realized this was where a party guest had his mustache carved off his face with a machete. Yeah, it’s like that, and the red stuff flows like the Rio Grande thereafter. Just do not expect any resolution.
Dir: Gigi Saul Guerrero
Star: Mia Xitlali, Mathias Retamal, Mauricio Mendoza, Gabriela Reynoso