Cecilia travels to her father’s farm after he has a heart attack. Back in her childhood home, Cecilia is met by her long-deceased mother, whose presence brings to life a painful past chorused by the natural world around them.
Here is a film that is as intriguing and radical as its title. Its sprawling narrative is rooted in magical realism, climate activism, and Trans-inclusive feminism. Set in Chile, the screenplay co-written by director Francisca Alegria, Manuela Infante, and Fernanda Urrejola (“Narcos: Mexico”) showcases the deterioration of a precious ecosystem and characters who have become detached from it.
“The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future” begins with a stunning sequence: fish begin submerging from a polluted river, along with Magdalena (Mia Maestro) who is clad in a leather biker outfit, is resurrected from her watery grave. Her family has been struggling with various things. Magdalena’s grandson Tomas (Enzo Ferrada) has recently transitioned into a woman, much to her mother Cecelia’s (Leonor Varela) disapproval. Before driving to their family’s dairy farm, Cecelia insists that Tomas dress like a boy. While en route to the farm, a protest is being held against a local industrialist for contaminating the river.
At the dairy farm: the cows are overcrowded like the farm’s wells, the cows’ udders are drying up, the honeybees are gone, and the sun never shines. At night, Cecilia has visions of a lone cow wandering through the woods. Magdalena, inexplicably wielding mystical powers, arrives at the farm, gorges on food, and reads a news report stating she committed suicide. Her family feels perplexed and mainly wonder why she has returned.
Just like “Children of Men,” “The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future” explores man’s destruction of nature and themselves while featuring many animals in nearly every frame. Interestingly, the animals in this film sing songs that comment on the story, like a Greek Chorus. Many choices like this are ambitious, but they mostly come together. And, while I yearned for more explanation on a couple of things, I appreciate the mystery.
In Theaters Friday, May 19th
