Luciferina

Argentinean writer-director Gonzalo Calzada’s horror film features some intriguing imagery, but is fatally undercut by sacrificing intelligibility for atmosphere. The heroine is Natalia (Sofia del Tuffo), a novice who is called home from the Catholic convent after her mother dies and her father is seriously injured. Met with hostility from her sister Angela (Malena Sánchez), who insists that the family is being assaulted by an evil force, Natalia agrees to accompany Angela, her nasty boyfriend Mauro (Francisco Donovan), and her pretentious friends Abel (Pedro Merlo), Osvaldo (Gastón Cocchiarale), and Mara (Stefanía Koessl) to a cave in the jungle where a shaman (Tomás Lipan) conducts a ritual in which the administration of ayahuasca forces the participants to confront disturbing episodes from their past. Ultimately this unleashes the sexual lust that Natalia has been struggling to repress—as well as an explosion of violence—while revealing that Natalia is fated to fulfill a role with Satanic overtones. Luciferina has clear ties to The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, but features its own distinctive spin on the possession narrative. Unfortunately, while stylish, the film is also ultimately incoherent. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)