The Heiresses (Las Herederas) 2018

     Chela and Chiquita have been together for over 30 years.  They are both descended from wealthy families in Asuncion Paraguay.  Recently, their financial circumstances have gone downhill and they have started to sell off their inherited possessions.  Because of their piled up debts, Chiquita is imprisoned on fraud charges.  This changes everything for Chela!!  She has not driven in years but she not drive now.  She starts providing a local taxi service to a group of wealthy elderly ladies.  Chela meets Angy and she is much younger.  They form a new connection with each other.  Chela begins to change now that Chiquita is gone.  She comes out of her shell and she is engaging with the world.  She will have her own personal revolution. 

     Ana Brun won Best Actress at Berlin and the entire cast is good.  There are no men in this film and this is unusual.  The male characters are pushed back into the periphery and almost non-existent.  The women are in there 50’s and they show signs of age.  But, they are treated with dignity and respect.   Everything is very understated and the details are important.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

98 min, Drama directed and written by Marcelo Martinessi with Ana Brun, Margaria Irun, Ana Ivanova, Nilda Gonzalez, Maria Martins, Alicia Guerra, Mecha Armele, Ana Banks, Beto Barsotti, Rossana Bellassai, Clotilde Cabral, Natalia Calcena, Raul Chamorro, Norma Codas, Regina Duarte.

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 97% critic 77% audience, Roger Ebert 4* Sheila O’Malley, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Metacritic 77 out of 100 with 14 critics (13 positive 1 mixed) 6.1 out of 10 with 9 user scores (5 positive, 3 mixed, 1 negative), Amazon 5* with 1 review, Letterboxd average 3.4* out of 5*. 

Special Note:  Filmed in Asuncion, Paraguay.  Official submission of Paraguay for the Best Foreign Language Film in the 91^st Academy Awards in 2019.  This is Ana Brun’s acting debut.  She used a pseudonym because she was fearful of being negatively associated with the film.  This was due to the subject matter since Paraguayan society is still very conservative.