Aquí y allá

After a spell as a migrant worker in the US, Pedro retreats to the Mexican mountains that he yearned to escape. Back home, his reunion with his pregnant wife Teresa and young daughters proves more hesitant than happy. Attempts to impress his girls with songs he recorded stateside only elicit nervous giggles. Meanwhile, his new band inspires little more than apathy. However, given the drudgery of his manual labour, one understands why he nurses his fading dreams. And while there are minor crises associated with Teresa’s pregnancy, Antonio Méndez Esparza’s debut feature hinges on tiny dramas at the dinner table and the tension derived from a man trying to prove himself to his loved ones before he once again takes his leave.

Thoughtfully conceived and exquisitely realized, the film is blessed with "a richly layered mood that steadily accumulates emotion from one scene to the next. Esparza constructs a family drama with supreme restraint… [and] conveys the serenity of the environment from the first shot until the last, so that the setting becomes as prominent as the trim story. While Pedro is always a desperate character, the movie foregrounds his cause with such idealism that it’s hard not to root for [him]… Never lethargic because of its poetic approach to narrative… the slightest indication of sorrow speaks volumes about [Pedro’s] conundrum, as well as the greater tragedy of its never-ending cycle."—Eric Kohn, Indiewire