The characters are Fernando and his wife Ana, a well-to-do couple in their mid thirties and their children, pre-teenager Lucia and Manuel, a few years younger. The movie opens with last minute predawn preparations for a trip from Santiago to the arid north of Chile in the family car. For much of the movie we witness family conversations in the car and soon we get hints that the couple is in the process of dissolution, a situation that Lucia senses and tries to understand with mixed success while Manuel, in his childish universe, is oblivious to the underlying tension. Through various happenings we learn a few things about the past and present of the couple. They run into Jorge, Ana's old friend (and possibly old flame) in a road stop and arrange to camp together. An incident that Ana relates involving Jorge and a guitar hints of some wildness in Ana's past. She obviously has serious issues with Fernando but hints are vague and sometimes contradictory. That's all we get: there is no outside point of view, flashbacks or explanations. In the end the car is sitting in a dusty road in the bleak Atacama desert, with Fernando and Ana apparently unable to plot their next moves.
If this movie could be classified, it would be in the genre minimalist road movie that comes naturally to Latin American directors; e. G. Famiia Rodante (2004) by Pablo Trapero, El Camino de San Diego (2006) by Carlos Sorin, Las Acacias (2011) by Pablo Giorgelli and El Silencio es Bienvenido (2017) by Gabriela García Rivas. Director and scriptwriter Dominga Sotomayor weaves a tale where situations and characters develop organically and at a steady pace. Cinematography by Barbara Alvarez provides the right atmosphere for the action. Last, but not least the acting is outstanding, not only from the professional actors but from the children playing Lucia and Manuel, who count this film as their only acting credit. An excellent work by any standards.
