Tribeca Film Festival – No one ever said motherhood is easy. In Michelle Garza Cervera‘s stellar feature debut, Huesera, it’s a downright nightmare. Set in present-day Mexico City, the film’s young mother-to-be is plagued by one frightening vision after another, caused by an occult force that doesn’t relent once the baby’s born. Plenty of genre films have tackled the fears and anxieties surrounding childbirth, but Cervera’s vision is unique.

Natalia Solián stars as Valeria, who, along with her partner, Raul (Alfonso Dosal), wants nothing more than to start a family. However, this comes as a surprise to Valeria’s family, who never viewed her as mother material. In fact, her sister, Vero (Sonia Couoh), tells a story about how she once babysat and dropped an infant. Luckily, the kid was okay. But to say those closest to Valeria question her parenting skills is an understatement. Yet, she’s determined to have a child. During the eerie opening, she engages in a womb blessing ceremony before a massive golden statue of the Virgin Mary. There’s simply something uncanny about this first sequence. It contains an unsettling quality that permeates throughout the film.

After the ritual and throughout the pregnancy, Valeria has strange visions. An entity breaks her bones while she sleeps. She also sees a person jump off a balcony and shatter their legs. The sound design during these hellish visions is stellar. Bones snap. Bodies contort in an inhuman fashion.  Even the frequent sound of Valeria cracking her knuckles, underscoring her anxieties, becomes more and more unnerving. Further, Valeria is a rich and layered character and Solián gives one heck of a performance. The role demands a wide range of emotions, including terror, anger, and anguish, and Solián manages all of these emotions and then some. It’s also heartbreaking just how alone the young mother becomes, how everyone, including her partner, turns on her, labeling her crazy and unfit to be a mom.

The film seamlessly weaves between past and present, too. At one point, Valeria was a punk rocker who had a thing with rebel Octavia (Mayra Batalla). The women railed against domestication, and when such a life creeps closer, Valeria returns to that past, reconnecting with Octavia. We see who the character used to be and better understand why she’s reluctant to be a mom. She questions who she’s becoming. The film includes a raucous soundtrack, too, containing tracks by contemporary bands from Latin America and Spain, including the director’s own band, Forra. At points, Valeria would rather dive into the pit again rather than give birth. The scenes in punk clubs are great, filled with young slam dancers and singers who smash microphones into their foreheads.

Cervera’s shorts have played at some of the biggest film festivals in the world. Her breakout debut proves that she’s a talent to watch. Huesera taps into the profound anxieties surrounding childbirth. This occult horror is a bold and transgressive film, a terrifying vision of domestication and motherhood. Maybe family life ain’t so great after all if it means sacrificing who you used to be.

8 Out of 10