Long-established art-house director Jaime Rosales set out to make his most accessible feature with “Petra,” a film about lies and self-discovery that indeed could well be his most popular work to date. It looks gorgeous, boasting sterling performances and an initially intriguing storyline which Rosales shuffles in an occasionally non-linear manner, not so far removed from such previous experimentations as “The Dream and the Silence.” There’s also Hélène Louvart’s elegantly fluid camerawork, gliding across and through spaces, always aware that worlds exist just outside the frame. But what begins as a psychologically and visually lush exploration of a woman’s quest to establish her paternity turns around the half-way mark into an overburdened plot set off by those constant panning shots which themselves become too rich for digestion. The disappointment is inescapable given the excitement of the first part, yet there’s enough to chew on, and indeed,...
- 5/10/2018
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
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