In the horror movie to Hue, Valeria (Natalia Solián) wants to become a mother. She shows her devotion to this idea by making a pilgrimage to a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray for the Virgin Mary to bless her womb. A craftswoman who earns her living with furniture, Valeria anxiously awaits a positive pregnancy test with her boyfriend Raúl (Alfonso Dosal) while she herself builds a cot for her future baby. She then begins stalking something, a figure that takes on unnatural shapes and makes her feel like her bones are about to snap. Maybe because in a way they are.
The directorial debut of Michelle Garza Cervera, to Hue – which will be translated into the English subtitle of the film, The bone woman – looks at motherhood through the lens of body horror. Other people’s expectations – which weigh heavily on any couple trying to start a family, but most of all on the pregnant person – begin to affect Valeria’s peace of mind. But where to Hue
to HueCervera’s screenplay, which Cervera co-wrote with Abia Castillo, is methodical and clear as a supernatural apparition quietly intrudes into an intimate drama. Shortly after becoming pregnant, Valeria begins seeing things – sometimes a spider, but more commonly a faceless woman, her bones breaking as she crawls from shadow to shadow at the edge of Valeria’s field of vision. In a similar way as The Babadookthe apparition is clearly symbolic, but also possibly real – a malevolent, unnamed spirit that only Valeria can see, causing her to behave in ways that lead her family to question her sanity.
While to Hue Remaining shy about the nature of his terrifying presence, the film is less opaque about the part of Valeria’s past for which it is a metaphor. As her pregnancy progresses, Valeria begins to quietly grieve for the parts of herself she gave up to pursue the vision of domesticity she has so diligently committed to, preparing meals for Raúl and building a nursery. She’s rummaging through a suitcase of relics from her not-so-distant past of hanging out with queer punks and vocally bemoaning traditional gender roles, which she’s now happily embracing. to Hue Leaves the transition between punk Valeria and contemporary Valeria to the viewer’s imagination. This is largely to his advantage, because to Hue
There is a focus on rituals to Hue that builds both its horror and character study in a compelling way. Its scenes are built around rituals of all kinds: its opening pilgrimage to the Blessed Virgin, even as the sound of gunfire breaks through the woods surrounding the shrine; the rituals of domesticity as Valeria and Raúl begin nesting, disturbed by the apparition; the art and noise of a punk show where Valeria begins to believe she is trapped in a life she doesn’t really want; and in the folkloric rituals of witchcraft practiced by women in private quarters, far from the prying eyes of the church and patriarchy, where mothers and daughters negotiate with unseen powers to gain control of their destiny.
avoid jump scares, to Hue instead relies on the inwardness of its protagonist. The film focuses heavily on Valeria, and Natalia Solián carries the narrative burden with ease. Others fade in and out around her, but Valeria is the only character with an actual bow; Secondary characters mostly serve as foils and reflections or paths not taken. Solián’s performance is understated and silently raises a chilling question about parenthood — if a kid fakes it until you make it, what happens if you never stop faking it?
to Hue speaks in a language of breaking and setting when rigid structures crumble under pressure – the wood of sturdy furniture, the bones of an animal eaten for its flesh, the expectations of an expectant mother. Mighty hands detach these things from their assigned purpose. In to Hue, Valeria is both the hands of a craftswoman and her medium: she cries out in agony as her bones are bent in ways she wasn’t meant to, yet craves control to shape her life into a shape shaped by their desires. Cervera has created a fable of motherhood that responds to tradition by asking: Which tradition is the strongest and most powerful? The Catholic austerity embodied in a sculpture of Mary? The witchcraft of women held captive by such ideals? The punks who rebel? When someone whose life is in flux is pulled in so many directions, the body transforms and the bones reset.
Huesera: The Bone Woman is in limited theatrical release and will be available on VOD on February 16th, with a Shudder release to follow.