This is the rather sad story of a middle-aged woman (Clara, Wendy Chinchilla Araya) living with her elderly mother in a rural Costa Rican village, as well as her dead sister's teenaged daughter. Clara is happy communing with nature and the family's horse and understands things through her quiet observations that others don't, and yet, she's mentally challenged, and seriously repressed. Her mother's idea of showing love and protecting her is to deny her a surgery the doctors recommend ("God gave her to me like this"), prop her up as one touched by the Virgin Mary to serve as a faith healer of sorts to the locals, and to put chili pepper on her fingers when she catches her masturbating. It's quite maddening.

We see Clara take steps to control over her identity and sexuality, but it's an uphill battle in this environment. Daniel Castañeda Rincón turns in a strong performance as he niece's boyfriend, who she becomes attracted to, but to director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén's credit, she never settles for easy moments of sexual awakening when lesser films would have done so. Araya channels a purity of soul in the lead character, while at the same time, somehow never idealizing her. It's not clear what she believes about all the Virgin Mary stuff, but she has an extraordinary connection to nature, with a spirituality that feels far more enlightened.

This is a solid effort all around, and the only reason for not rating it higher was how difficult it was to watch what amounted to a claustrophobic form of abuse. Certainly worth seeing though.

I love this movie because it's so unconventional, pure and reminiscent of our spiritual connection to the natural world. The main character Clara, mentally and physically handicapped, communicates deeply with animals, plants, soil and water. When nature is hurt Clara manifests it through convulsions. The opposite also happens: when Clara is upset, nature replies with an earthquake.

Her freedom is reigned in by purple banners set by her mother who believes her twisted spine was a gift from God by which she can heal humans through the holy mother Mary. But Clara hates being treated as a trophy and it's a struggle to get her dressed up for healing sessions.

Clara wants to break the bonds to experience freedom and sexuality, spurred on by romance on TV and her niece's first love. She befriends a beetle and her mother's beautiful white horse who is to be sold off, which gravely upsets Clara. When the beetle almost dies even Clara's breath cannot revive it. Clara decides the only way to protect the white horse (innocence) is by releasing it into the wild.

In the meantime she's experienced her first physical connection with her niece's lover who likes her but doesn't take her serious as relationship material.

At her niece's birthday party an acquaintance tells her the horse has been found dead by the river. At this moment Clara unleases her repressed sexual desire on the man she covets. He rebukes her, she flies into a rage, thrashes the party and an earthquake ensues.

After this she sets fire to the shrine and flees into the woods.

In the final scene Clara is one with nature again. Now she's broken the restricted confinement set by humans the river magically cures her twisted spine. She's also able to revive the beetle. The camera swings through the trees to see the white horse is alive and well.

Clara Sola is quite a tour de force.

It is the first feminist movie I have watched in which the men (Santiago and Fran) are actually not toxic and mean at all. The social and religious norms are mostly enforced by the main female characters.

The film combines a political and sociological perspective with the esoteric beauty of magical realism. The spectator oscillates between contemplation, empathy and anger throughout the plot.

Clara Sola reminded me a little bit of Ixcanul and El Abrazo de la Serpiente. The main actress gives an unforgettable performance.