Sindre Kaspersen Mexican screenwriter and director Michel Franco's second feature film which he wrote and co-produced, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 65th Cannes International Film Festival in 2012, was shot on location in Mexico and is a Mexican production which was produced by producers Elias Menassé, Fernando Rovzar, Alexis Fridman and Marco Polo Constandse. It tells the story about a 17-year-old girl named Alejandra Royas who moves with her father named Roberto, whom has just gotten himself a new car, from Puerto Vallarta to Polanco in Mexico City where he is starting a new job at a restaurant and she is beginning at a new school. Whilst Roberto starts working at the restaurant, Alejandra befriends her classmates named Camila, Irene, Javier, Manuel and José and is warmly welcomed into their group, and one evening Alejandra attends a party and attracts the attention of José.Distinctly and precisely directed by Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated mostly from the two main character's point of view, draws a dense and unsentimental portrayal of a Mexican student and daughter's relationship with her father and her new classmates. While notable for its naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, distinct cinematography by Mexican cinematographer Chuy Chávez, production design by production designer Carlos Fernandez, costume design by costume designer Evelyn Robles and use of sound, colors and light, this character-driven and narrative-driven story about interpersonal communication, bullying and a shared though silenced agony between two family members where a swimmer is initiated into a new circle of friends and a chef is struggling to carry out his work, depicts two internal and isolating studies of character.This obscurely atmospheric, sociological, authentic and heartrending psychological drama which is set in the capital city of Mexico in the 21st century and where a girl whom is becoming accustomed to her new life at a new place takes a liking to a boy and becomes a singled out target of vicious human behaviour, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, rhythmic continuity, refined editing by Michel Franco and film editor Antonio Bribiesca, acute depiction of its central themes, reverent style of filmmaking and the eloquently understated acting performances by Mexican actress Tessa Ia González Norvind in her debut feature film role and Mexican actor Hernán Mendoza. A concentrated, minimalistic and strikingly cinematographic character piece which gained, among other awards, the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 65th Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

Rodrigo Cesar Forte Costa It's hard to watch Después de Lucía and don't get hit by a mix of feelings caused by it, like anguish, guilt, hatred and pity. And these are just a few that I felt when watching the movie. At least for me, the movie was pretty effective, mainly because I have witnessed situations just like the one shown in the movie.The story follows the teenager Alejandra and her father Roberto moving to a new city after the death of the title character. In this new town, he starts working as a chef while Alejandra starts going to school. After something happens in a weekend party, she starts being bullied by the students.Everything that her character goes through makes us feel really bad and powerless, seeing all that and without the capacity to help. And that's part of the superb direction of Michel Franco, which really carries the movie. Notice that almost all scenes have a static camera, and all the action perfectly fits within the frame. This gives us powerful scenes, like the one in the trip to Veracruz, where we can see students making out, others smoking marijuana, others drinking and two guys talking about something that one of them just made in the bathroom. Even with all this happening on the screen, we can't stop thinking about what happened outside of it, and it's hard to tell what just happened in that bathroom.The camera is always far from the actors, trying to avoid us to make a connection with them. However, there is one scene with a close-up in Alejandra face, maybe to make us feel close to her. There is also only one scene (that I remember) where the camera moves, and that happens when Alejandra enters the classroom, and we see a 180 degree turn, maybe in an attempt of Franco to tell the public that the moment when the girl enters that room, her life is going to take a similar turn.The director also made a good choice picking Tessa Ia e Hernán Mendoza for the main roles. When they're together, it's visible the indifference that reigns in their relationship. Roberto always tries to hide his suffering from Alejandra but when he is alone he cries and can't stand to drive the car in which his wife died. And even trying to show some love for Alejandra, he fails in some situations, like the one when he forgets her birthday, a fact that is not missed by her so called friends.If it wasn't for the ending, which will irritate the politically correct, I wouldn't hesitate in show Después de Lucía to some students, trying to make them to see the dimension that bullying can reach. And let's make clear that I'm not a defender of Alejandra, mainly because the act that starts all of the bullying is caused by her recklessness. But, even knowing that she has some guilty in everything that happened, the reaction it caused was extremely unproportional.

adthuurvangils After Lucia creates unbearable levels of tension, and you may think you know how the story will develop the director has a different idea. The movie continues with uninterrupted shots. The film opens inside a car, establishes Roberto's state of mind, trying to cope from his grief due to the death of his wife. So again, a death person explains all the levels of emotion of which the characters are build on, a simple cliché trick too often is being used in Cinema these days. On the other hand the most beautiful idea of the film is stolen from a short film that already was presented at Cannes in 2009. C'est gratuit pour les filles by Marie Amachoukeli-Barsacq and Claire Burger is even a better film in my opinion, avoiding the cliché so called loved film festival formula of which jury members so much love. A formula as one we are able to say in Hollywood films. Long shots, poor dialogue, fixed shots etc. Happily Rodriguez avoids main characters walking through nature - as too many art-house filmmakers today have copied from the Lisandro Alonso. But although all these frustrations that I had, the film is beautiful well made and totally an big audience worth. Amen

JvH48 I saw this film at the Ghent filmfestival 2012. A chef (Roberto) and his daughter (Alejandra) move to a city where both are new. Their wife resp. mother has recently died in a car accident, and their move seems a recipe to get some distance from what happened and an attempt to deal with their loss. Father and daughter follow their own path to get settled in their new environment.We see Roberto starting to work in a restaurant, but his depressive mood and sudden impatience hinders him from a fruitful working relationship with co-workers. He quits suddenly, but that solved nothing and he regrets this hasty decision. We see him later on working as a chef again. But the remembrance of his loss continues to haunt him. His depressions and anger are never taken out on his daughter, however.Alejandra seems to get along well with her new classmates, and integrates remarkably fast. That turns around when a film showing her being drunk and having sex during a party, happens to be published on Internet. That triggers an unbelievable amount of bullying by her classmates, often to such an extent that you eagerly want to look away. But you can't, while the camera is close by and does not let go.It is difficult to believe that the young players are all amateurs with no previous experience on stage or film-set. They have a significant part in the proceedings, be it the collective bullying of Alejandra, or the collective silence when interrogated by teachers about what is going on. The boys and the girls play equal roles in the bullying. I see them showing a very natural way of behaving, even with the camera very close.The collective mindset, all against one, is not easy to watch. Teachers nor parent have any idea that worrisome things are going on. You feel alone with Alejandra. With apparently no one to rescue her, it is all very disturbing to witness. Teachers are not aware, because these school kids are too old to need constant supervision, and have a lot of leeway to fill their own time. The parent (Roberto) is not aware that anything bad is happening with Alejandra. As a loving daughter she takes all trouble to shield her father from any bad news, observing his depressive moods. Not until very very late in the story we see involvement of teachers and parent.A few loose ends remain unexplained, maybe only to show Roberto's depressive mood and nothing else. Best example is that in the beginning of the film we see that he let a garage fully restore his wife's car after a crash, to subsequently abandon it somewhere with the keys inside to continue his journey on foot. Halfway the film we see the same car wrecked again after a disastrous joy riding. Similar inconsistencies I have with Roberto's job at a the restaurant where he works at first, then quits, and later on resumed working without much explanation. All things considered, these are minor details.The camera closes in on the story. The situation gets from bad to ugly, and without anyone on the rescue. I consider this a very strong feature of this film, letting us watch what happens from very close. You get involved, willingly or not. I scored a 5 (out of 5) for the audience award when leaving the theater. In hindsight, though not as bad as Alejandra, I feel a bit lonely too when seeing that this film ended on the 38th place for the audience award, in my opinion undeservedly surpassed by several films with much less qualities.