The acclaimed, gripping Mexican border thriller from debut Mexican filmmaker Fernanda Valadez, Identifying Features, will open January 22 with Chicago’s Gene Siskel Film Center Virtual Cinema.
Middle-aged Magdalena (Mercedes Hernandez) has lost contact with her son after he took off with a friend from their town of Guanajuato to cross the border into the U.S., hopeful to find work. Desperate to find out what happened to him—and to know whether or not he’s even alive—she embarks on an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous journey to discover the truth.
At the same time, a young man named Miguel (David Illescas) has returned to Mexico after being deported from the U.S., and eventually his path converges with Magdalena’s. From this simple but urgent premise, director Fernanda Valadez has crafted a lyrical, suspenseful slow burn, equally constructed of moments of beauty and horror, and which leads to a startling, shattering conclusion. Watch the trailer below:
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And there’s a poster.
Identifying Features just won Best International Feature at the IFP Gotham Awards and was the winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Audience and Screenplay Awards at Sundance.
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SOURCE: Kino Lorber
