La Ciénaga

An eerily resonant depiction of rotting late-stage capitalism and its toll on humanity, La Ciénaga follows a rangy extended family suffocating from madness and malaise during an oppressive heat wave in their crumbling country home. The haunted women at the center of Martel’s film, cousins Mecha and Tali, each find themselves in a bourgeoisie prison of their own making while their children grow feral from pressure and neglect. From the unrelenting cacophony of voices to the layer of sweat visible in nearly every shot, this family lives in a state of constant, malignant discomfort that eats at their sanity, much like their country home which is slowly becoming reclaimed by the surrounding jungle.