Abel (played by newcomer Christopher-Ruiz Esparza) is a nine year old boy with the weight of the world on his mind. For two years, he has been in a psychiatric facility, a stopgap into the unknown where even the doctors don’t have any answers. When his mother, Cecilia (played by Karini Gidi) arrives to take him home on a week’s trial, it is a last ditch attempt to keep the family together. If she fails, Abel will be shipped to a long term psych facility in Mexico City. He greets her with a painful silence and brooding stare while florescent lights hum and flicker above. Yes, you guessed it; there is something wrong with Abel.
Thankfully, writer and director Diego Luna is too sophisticated a storyteller to delve into straight- to-DVD child horror. Abel does not have telekinesis; he is not a modern Linda Blair or a dwarf in disguise. Instead, Luna uses Abel’s experience to explore the impact of a more painful reality-the absence of a parent.
ABEL is the second feature from the actor turned director since boxing documentary J.C. CHAVEZ. Diego Luna has become a recognisable face from his lustrous role as Tenoch in Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN and as Sean Penn’s deeply troubled lover in MILK. But ABEL, a story co-written by Luna over the past 5 years shows that as a director, young Diego runs deep.
As soon as Abel steps into his home, it is clear he has been lost in time. His pyjamas stop above his ankles and his little brother runs scared every time he appears. From Abel’s thoughtful expressions, it is clear the cogs are turning. He mulls over his parent’s sun bleached wedding photo and climbs into his estranged father’s clothes. Eventually, Abel breaks from his solitary bubble with a stern ‘Selene!’ to scold his sister’s bad language. From this moment, the film becomes a wavering scale of sadness and smiles.
Abel finds his own way of coping by adopting a new identity-the nine year old man of the house. In a tweed jacket and tie, Abel tuts over his sibling’s homework and sits at the head of the table making demands. Karini Gidi comes close to stealing the limelight as Cecilia, an earthy matriarch with her whole life’s troubles etched into her face. She urges Abel’s siblings to play along with his odd ways and, rightly or wrongly, she will do anything to maintain his façade. While Abel’s sister cracks under the pressure, his brother Paul clings to the idea of a replacement father with the blind enthusiasm that only a child can have. The authenticity of their interactions is likely thanks to Luna’s clever casting; Paul is in fact the real life little brother of Christopher-Ruiz.
Things take a turn for the sinister as the family’s real father, Anselmo returns home from ‘Gringoland’ (USA) to kick over Abel’s quivering house of cards. Anselmo, a feckless layabout with a brush moustache is unamused by Abel’s behaviour but begrudgingly plays along. His arrival met with Abel’s new identity provides an interesting look at changing ideas of masculinity, what it means to be a man. Given Anselmo’s unapologetic abandonment of his family, his infidelity and all round ignorance, it would seem that a 9 year old boy makes a more competent father figure. When Abel’s authority is questioned, the more serious tones of this movie arise, provoking bouts of stress, self harm and unsettling mania. In these moments, we see the startling talent of Christopher-Ruiz who switches from composed adult to vulnerable patient so effortlessly. When these ‘turns’ occur (to an apt soundtrack of a Hitchcockian hum) it becomes genuinely frightening.
The Oedopian side to this film will have the audience squirming in awkward panic as Abel climbs into bed with his mother. Thankfully, the scene is offered a cartoonish save-complete with ‘post-coital’ chocolate cigarette smoking.
Luna demonstrates both writing and directorial skill beyond his years with this feature; it is clearly a story close to his heart. Having lost his own mother at the age of two, Luna has a genuine understanding of parental loss, something which shines through the emotional depth of his characters. Working in theatre from the age of 6, Luna is well schooled in the area of child acting. To draw such a remarkable performance from an untrained child-actor is a feat rarely achieved in mainstream cinema.
If you are intrigued by the emotional turmoil of HAMLET, the bemusing honesty of THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS or the boyish humour of 1980s bodyswap comedy, you will enjoy this movie. Its may sound like a mixed bag but true to life, ABEL is a film full of complex surprises.
See the trailer here:
