A fan whirs, birds chirp in the palm trees moved by the wind, water spills over the edge of the small hotel pool. Low season: Paloma (35) and her fifteen-year-old son Hector are spending a week's vacation in a virtually deserted hotel on the Mexican coast. Nothing seems to disturb their idleness, their closeness. They lie by the pool, read, listen to music, order a daily club sandwich or talk about Prince's sex appeal. But Fernando Eimbcke, born in 1970, knows from his own experience and from the many interviews he has conducted about the drama of growing up and the bittersweet process of detachment that a mother goes through. He quietly sprinkles signs of sexual awakening into the scenery, staging moments that trigger jealousy. And when sixteen-year-old Jazmin appears in this well-tempered boredom, he drives the story towards its climax.
In his third feature film, Eimbcke once again proves himself to be a South American master of observation and laconicism, following on from his first film and surprise hit Temporada de Patos (2004). His film feels like the pleasant tingling sensation on your skin when you jump into the water on a hot summer's day.
