Gods

Director Josué Méndez's Gods focuses on Peru's elite, kicking off with two seemingly unrelated narratives in which a wary brother looks after his flirtatious sister at a club, while a lower-class woman socializes with friends of her upper-class fiancé, Agustín (Edgar Saba)—who turns out to be the father of the aforementioned siblings, college student Diego (Sergio Gjurinovic) and part-time model Andrea (Anahí de Cárdenas). While Agustín's unsophisticated fiancée, Elisa (Maricielo Effio)—who shares their oceanfront compound—seems nice, the kids are spoiled brats, and Diego expresses an unhealthy interest in Andrea, who finds out she's pregnant but has no idea who the father might be (suffice to say, it isn't Diego). By the time Andrea tells Agustín, it's too late for an abortion, so he comes up with a plan designed to save the family's reputation. Meanwhile, Elisa hangs out around the house, reading and talking to the help, whom most everyone else ignores. She enjoys spending Agustín's money but has little interest in his social circle, in which the men talk business and the women babble about superficial matters, not counting their hypocritical Bible-study sessions. Taking on the rich and clueless may seem like shooting fish in a barrel, but Gods isn't heartless, and viewers may wind up feeling something for each of these characters. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)