When it comes to horror movies, there tends to be some common themes. Some revolve around maniacs who go on killing sprees, some invoke the spirits of ghosts, those that conjure the supernatural, and those that use religion and ancient rituals to create curses. One such religion is called Palo Mayombe. It is an Afro-Caribbean religion that is often considered a "darker" or more mystical branch of Santería. Palo Mayombe blends African traditions with Catholic influences, and typically uses spirit vessels that represent both African spirits and Catholic saints. Rosario "Rose" Fuentes (Emeraude Toubia) doesn't know anything about Palo Mayombe, but she is about to get a crash course.
Rose's parents came to America illegally from Mexico. When she was little, they were poor and struggled to make ends meet. Raised Catholic, Rose's mother (Diana Lein) and grandmother (Costanza Gutierrez) didn't necessarily follow the same religion. After her parents divorced, Rose tended to gravitate towards her father (José Zúñiga) and was largely absent from her mother's life up until the day her mother died.
Now a successful stockbroker, Rose suddenly gets a phone call from the superintendent of her grandmother's apartment building stating that her grandmother had passed away. However, due to a snowstorm, the ambulance can't get to the apartment right away, and so Rose is forced to go and sit with her deceased grandmother. While there, Rose encounters some disturbing events and investigates her grandmother's home for answers. What she finds is decades of worship, sacrifice, and a curse beyond her comprehension.
Making his feature film directorial debut, Felipe Vargas does an admirable job with Alan Trezza's script. To hear him speak of it, Vargas will tell you he found several funny moments in Trezza's script; however, you wouldn't know it from the film, which has very few comedic moments, save for maybe one lighthearted gag about a borrowed air fryer. And while there are moments where one can tell Vargas is trying too hard to impress with certain shots, he does make use of some interesting camera angles that are as creepy as they are engaging.
Vargas is also helped along on this adventure by a small but talented cast. Toubia does an excellent job transitioning from being annoyed at having to babysit her grandmother's corpse, to terrified when the unexplained starts happening, to angry and determined when she figures out what is going on and decides she is going to find a way to stop it. Veteran actor Zúñiga brings his wealth of experience and expertise to portraying the doting father who wishes to give his little girl the world but who hides a dark secret from his daughter. The rest of the cast are good as well, with Lein turning in a sinister and hair-raising performance which adds gravity to the film and the supposed "curse." David Dastmalchian (David Dastmalchian) offers a little bit of levity as the annoyingly strange neighbor.
The set design is another aspect of the film that Vargas gets right. Shooting mainly in an old building in Bogota, the atmosphere lends itself to the image of a horror film with broken windows, shredded curtains, creaking floors, and cobwebs aplenty. It also doesn't seem as a shock when Rose finds a hidden room in her grandmother's closet with ritualistic artifacts meant to practice what some might consider "dark magic." Vargas was also lucky to be able to use his own family as extras and their items as set dressing.
Vargas is young but talented. He made some rookie mistakes but also showed a level of maturity not often seen in 25-year-old film directors (he is 27 now). For his first venture into feature film directing, he did a pretty good job, and I, for one, am curious to see what his sophomore effort brings.
Rosario is a decent film with a good but, at times, confusing story. I felt the curse and demonic essence needed more explaining, but the viewer can get the basics from this film.
Vargas stated that he hoped one word people would use to describe Rosario is "gross." I can attest that it is a solid and accurate adjective to describe this film.
Grade: B-
