Babygirl

(La hembrita)
Laura Amelia Guzmán | Drama, Fiction

2023 | 92 minutes | Dominican Republic

A high-class woman has one of her maid's granddaughters under her care. She must decide between giving the girl back or keeping her in the family.

Synopsis

Set in an upper-class neighborhood of the Dominican Republic, Babygirl is an unsettling portrait of a middle-aged woman, Dominique, and her relations with family, servants, and entourage.

From the very first scene, the film manages to astutely depict her privilege and buried longings. As a woman whose identity is deeply attached to her role, Dominique finds herself alone after the departure of her children. One day, the maid brings home her granddaughter and, shortly after, inexplicably disappears. The little girl re-awakens Dominique’s maternal instinct – but neither her relatives nor her friends seem to think it a good decision to keep her.

With neat precision and calculated detachment, Babygirl paints a society of strong racial and class differences. Appearances and disappearances are shrouded in mystery; hints at corporate corruption are left unresolved; and nods to Lucrecia Martel’s The Headless Woman (2008) can be felt.

Reviews

“A sophisticated and subtle study of class and race tensions in the Dominican Republic. In the film, Guzmán avoids the temptation to indict her characters. Instead, she constructs a narrative that strongly favors ambiguity, showing just how interconnected are the worlds of rich and poor, black and white.” — Ena Alvarado, Americas Quarterly

“An unostentatious, subtle film, with much going on below the surface. Amidst social gatherings, video calls with the absent sons and moments of lonely idleness, Dominique’s deep unfulfillment pervades the film, while the threat of catastrophe looms in the background.” — Cristina Álvarez López, IFFR Film Festival

Citation
Main credits

Guzmán, Laura Amelia (film director)
Guzmán, Laura Amelia (screenwriter)
Cárdenas, Israel (screenwriter)
Cárdenas, Israel (film producer)
Muñoz, Rafael Elias (film producer)
Pérez Báez, Sarah (film producer)
García, Cecilia (actor)
Vásquez, Aleska (actor)
Fortuna, Xiomara (actor)

Other credits

Cinematography and editing, Israel Cárdenas; music, Pedro Guzmán, Pablo Chea.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
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Festivals

International Film Festival Rotterdam; Fine Arts International Film Festival - Best Lead and Supporting Actresses; San Francisco Latino Film Festival; Málaga Film Festival; Uruguay International Film Festival; Huelva Film Festival

DIRECTOR: Laura Amelia Guzmán

NATIONALITY: Dominican Republic

YEAR: 2023

GENRE: Drama, Fiction

LANGUAGE: Spanish

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School, College, Adult

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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