Graceless and banal, Catalina Arroyave's feature debut Days of the Whale presents two college-age young people who can think of nothing else better to do with themselves than squander opportunities to rise above oppressive gang violence in their neighborhood of Medellin, Colombia, as well as the unhappiness they feel in their boring lives at home. Cristina (Laura Tobon Ochoa) is a university student who lives with her loving but immature father and his absurdly young new wife, whom Cristina despises. Her mother is in Spain living a new life and begging Cristina to get out of the dangerous Central American city and join her in Europe. But Cristina would rather mope and be obnoxious while spending her nights painting graffiti on buildings with her equally aimless pal Simon (David Escallon Orrego). Given the limitations they've placed on themselves, the duo's willful removal of a gang warning to "snitches" painted on a wall is an act of bravery. But it's also small beer for two young people with brains and talent and every reason to take destiny by the horns. Along with giving us little reason to feel empathy for the protagonists is scant motivation to care for Arroyave's kitchen-sink-drama approach to dreary dinner scenes and meetings of a half-baked artists collective. This movie is a slog all the way. Not recommended.
Days of the Whale
Days of the Whale
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.