A Fantastic Woman (Una
mujer fantástica)
(Chile/Germany/Spain/USA, 104
min.)
Dir. Sebastían Lelio, Writ. Sebastían
Lelio, Gonzalo Maza
Starring: Daniela Vega,
Francisco Reyes, Luis Genecco, Aline Küppenheim, Nicholás
Saavedra
Is Sebastían Lelio the new Pedro Almódovar?
The Chilean director already met the Spanish auteur by giving praise to older
women in 2013’s festival hit Gloria, but
he matches the master filmmaker’s intoxicating visual sense and sensitivity to
queer stories with the outstanding new drama A Fantastic Woman. The film, produced by various hands behind Jackie, Spotlight and Toni Erdmann,
is a worthy nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscars and
its Almódovar-esque
passion is bound to satiate film buffs hungry for another hit from the Spanish
director. The film proves Lelio to be one of international art cinema’s next
auteurs.