Clara Sola 2022

In a secluded Costa Rican hamlet, forty-year-old Clara undergoes a profound transformation as she begins to shatter the shackles of her repressed desires. Her life is marked by a suffocating relationship with her tyrannical mother and her role as caretaker to Yuca, the horse that remains her sole confidant. Maria, the 15-year-old niece who shares a bond with Clara, has started exploring romantic feelings for Santiago, a young suitor. However, Clara’s own desires are stifled by her curvature of the spine, which her mother refuses to treat despite insurance coverage, insisting that God created her as she is and that any attempts at self-pleasure are sinful. The mother’s overbearing nature extends to preventing Clara from experiencing pleasure in all its forms, even going so far as to rub chili peppers on her fingers to deter masturbation.

Despite these constraints, Clara has developed a reputation as a mystic and faith healer, possessing the uncanny ability to know the secret names of animals and people. Her mother’s zeal for spiritual pursuits is reflected in the shrine-lined room where Clara occasionally performs blessings for visiting devotees. As the narrative unfolds, Clara finds solace in Santiago’s companionship, which seems to awaken a deepening emotional connection between them. The fateful discovery of her niece having sex with Santiago sends Clara fleeing into the forest, where she indulges in a long-overdue moment of self-pleasure and returns home only after dawn.

In response to Clara’s perceived sinfulness, her mother fervently prays for God to extinguish her daughter’s desires. In a subsequent display of devotion, she burns her own hand on a candle, further emphasizing the depth of her beliefs. As tensions escalate, Clara intervenes when her mother seeks to sell Yuca to fund Maria’s quinceañera celebrations. The horse is spirited away, prompting Clara to abandon her mother and flee with Santiago by the river. In this moment of liberation, they share an intimate embrace as Clara reveals her secret name: Sola. However, their joy is short-lived, as Clara later pilfers Maria’s birthday dress and makes a break for it, only to be reclaimed by Santiago – albeit at the cost of the ruined garment.

As the quinceañera celebrations reach their climax, Clara’s world begins to unravel like a thread pulled from a tapestry. The revelation that a deceased mare has been discovered by the river sends her into a daze, where she attempts to bridge the gap with Santiago (her lips brushing against his in a fleeting moment of longing). However, he rebuffs her advances with a subtle yet firm force, sending Clara’s emotions careening out of control. The party quickly descends into chaos as a minor earthquake strikes, shattering the delicate balance of the evening.

The next day, Clara’s anguish boils over like a cauldron left unattended. She sets fire to the shrine in her family home, watching with a mix of defiance and despair as the Madonna is consumed by flames. The room and then the house itself soon join the inferno, engulfed in a blaze that mirrors the turmoil raging within Clara’s soul. Her family, oblivious to her true whereabouts, frantically searches for her, convinced she remains trapped inside. Meanwhile, Clara continues her headlong flight, finally coming to rest at the river’s edge - a spot where memories of her baptismal waters and shared moments with Santiago still linger.

As she stands there, the gentle pressure on her back begins to dissipate, like the easing of an old ache. A series of subtle pops signal the gradual realignment of her spine, a tangible manifestation of the healing process underway within her. As the forest’s tranquility washes over her, Clara catches sight of Yuca observing her from the shadows - a quiet reminder that solace and redemption may yet be hers to claim. The camera then pans out to capture the desolate river bend, its stillness a poignant counterpoint to the turmoil that has ravaged Clara’s life. As the screen fades to black, it is as if the very darkness itself holds the promise of a new dawn, waiting to unfold.