Fecha de caducidad

Ramona loves her son so much that she is still content to cut his nails and feed him, even though he’s now an adult. When he doesn’t return home to share some tomato soup with his mother, Ramona goes out to look for him – in the hospitals and morgues. And it’s there that she comes across the shady-looking Genaro whose hobby is cutting out crime updates from newspapers. Ramona thinks that he might have something to do with her son’s disappearance – or even his death. Just the way he hangs about their house is highly irregular, although this might be due to a neighbour, who’s hiding something herself. Expiration Date combines psychological drama with escalating scenes full of black humour and captivating visuals. The film is not afraid to take things beyond the aesthetics of ugliness, while at the same time maintaining its distance, which in no way undermines the story. It deftly combines interest in the characters and an eloquent stylisation which reflects the vibrant culture of Latin America, nevertheless it equally manages to comment on the violence which the drug cartels bring to the region. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)