‘Reinas’: Sundance Review

Dir. Klaudia Reynicke. Peru/Switzerland/Spain. 2024. 103mins

Klaudia Reynicke’s Reinas may not be explicitly autobiographical, but it feels deeply personal as she casts a compassionate eye over family life amidst the turmoil of Peru in the 1990s. A coming of age story for both child and parent, it becomes a touching account of the ties that bind and the challenges of change. A Sundance world premiere should provide an ideal launch pad for this accessible, tenderly observed heartwarmer. 

An accessible, tenderly observed heartwarmer

The latest feature from Reynicke (The Nest, Love Me Tender) speaks to her own experiences of being born in Peru and leaving when she was 10. The sense of a country in crisis never eclipses the story of the family, but it is always present in the background. In 1992, inflation is soaring, there are protests on the streets, regular power cuts, a strict night time curfew and a growing exodus of those who have the means to leave. Travel agent Elena (Jimena Lindo) has been offered work in Minnesota and is planning to relocate there with teenage daughters Aurora (Luana Vega) and Lucia (Abril Gjurinovic). In order for the girls to depart Peru, she requires the legal consent of her ex-husband Carlos. 

Played with scruffy, dog-eared charm by Gonzalo Molina, Carlos is currently ”getting back on his feet” and likes to cultivate an air of mystery around what he does and where he lives. We see him working as a taxi driver, regaling a passenger with his acting credits – including three films produced by Roger Corman, “here in Lima”. He also has a security job at his uncle’s factory. He tells his daughters – his “queens” (the reinas of the title) – that he has a hush-hush role in national security. Lucia still buys into his tall tales, but the older Aurora is more inclined to roll her eyes in disbelief.

Faced with the prospect of losing the girls, Carlos tries to regain their affections. Often absent in the past, he now becomes more present in their lives; a right that others feel he has forfeited. His mother in-law, beautifully played by Susi Sanchez, has a withering disdain for him.

The house shared by Elena, her mother and the girls is both a sanctuary and an expression of their privilege. Production designer Susana Torres does a terrific job of conjuring their world and status in the stylish furnishings and warm fabrics, comfy sofas and solid lamps. There is also a maid who is considered part of the family, whether she believes it or not. 

Carlos is the one scraping by with his wreck of a car and unreliable promises. He provides bursts of fun (a trip to the beach, a helter skelter drive across the sand dunes) without shouldering the everyday responsibilities. The girls are eventually won over, however, and even Elena finds that can still think the best of him.

The ensemble cast makes you believe in these characters as a family, capturing the complicated emotions that unite them through good times and the possibility of separation. Carlos is unreliable, sometimes exasperating but still endearing.  Lucia looks up to an older sister who is pulling away from her into the world of grown-ups. There are secrets and evasions, uncertainty and betrayal. All of it is grounded in the knowledge that everyone will do the right thing and make whatever sacrifices are needed, and Reynicke’s light handling of these delicate emotions is what makes Reinas so endearing. She has also co-written (with Gioacchino Ballstreri ) a number of plaintive, pleasing songs on the soundtrack that catch the bittersweet mood of the family and its travails.