Abel (2011)

Director: Diego Luna
Starring: Geraldine Alejandra, Karina Gidi and Christopher Ruíz-Esparza
Running time: 82 Mins

Review: Review by Katie McCabe

Release Date: 7th January, 2011

Plot: Christopher Ruiz-Esparza (a mere 9 years of age at the time of filming) stars as Abel, a young boy whose confounding behaviour and refusal to speak has landed him in a mental health facility. His single mother is convinced that a reunion between Abel and his younger brother and older sister would be the answer to repairing his condition, so she arranges for Abel’s doctor to release the boy for a single week. Abel starts speaking the day after returning home but the joy of the mother quickly turns into confusion as the child starts speaking and behaving as a fully-grown adult- her missing partner. Not wishing to worsen his condition the mother and the siblings go along with Abel’s unorthodox, strange behaviour. But then his father decides to show up…

Disturbing, surreal and darkly funny, ABEL deals with an important issue in Mexico – parental absenteeism — increasingly common as many Mexican men abandon their families to find work in the United States.

Interview: Diego Luna, interviewed by Katie McCabe

Video: Interview: Diego Luna

Trailer: