acid reflects

The Curse of La Llorona
Directed by Michael Chaves
Based on the pan-Latin folklore
R13

La Llorona does the James Wan- trademark jump scares right, which it has aplenty. The story and concept though are sadly diluted.

Based on the Latin-x folklore about a weeping woman cursed to roam the earth in search of the souls of the children she murdered, La Llorona is yet another branch in the ever-expanding Conjuring universe of supernatural horror films that began in 2013.

The story begins with a short flashback into how La Llorona gets cursed in 17th century Mexico. Interesting stuff. Forward 300 years later in 1973 Los Angeles and the story focuses on social worker Anna (Linda Cardellini) who is investigating the disappearance of two children belonging to Patricia (Patricia Velasquez) – a mother under Anna’s supervision.

Anna’s interference seems to have had dire consequences after the two boys are found dead near a river. That same night, Anna’s own children are tormented by La Llorona (Marisol Ramirez.)

Anna and her children initially dismiss what happens to them, until the situation gets dreadfully worse and they seek the help of former priest turned demon-hunter, Rafael (Raymond Cruz.) They set a trap at Anna’s house, which almost fails until Anna’s faith is restored.

It’s pretty generic, low-budget but decently-made jump scare of a movie that sadly fails to build on the folklore that spans across Latin America, meant to scare kids from going out late at night.

Anna is given a character flaw (her non-belief in religious things, despite being historically Roman Catholic) possibly to add to her character’s journey that would somewhat require her to grasp some belief in order to defeat the curse.

But what is actually “the curse”? Is it seeing and getting abducted by La Llorona? The mechanics of getting cursed suggest any child near a water source who is approached by a weeping woman. Or is La Llorona herself the cursed entity, judging from the backstory?

At some point, the story becomes interesting when Anna’s fate is ironically upturned when the social worker herself becomes investigated for child abuse. The story doesn’t build on this either, which could have made it darker and more tragic. The story – and in turn, everything else – feels diluted.

With vague mythology, the film boils down to jump scares to deliver the frights for what could have been a fantastic foray into Latin American superstition that is awash with ghouls and demons. Instead, it’s a mere sidestep from the main Conjuring storyline, which of course is the intended moneymaker.

La Llorona opened yesterday in theaters nationwide.

Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures