This year’s Fantastic Fest is all about unusual approaches to storytelling and film, whether it be through non-linear or splicing perspectives, or simply being downright confounding. AMAZING ELISA, written and directed by Sadrac González-Perellón, is one such entry. Told through both chapters and alternating perspectives, ELISA presents the story of a twelve-year-old girl who believes she has superpowers.
Elisa (Jana San Antonio in her film debut) is obsessed with her favorite comic book superhero. To cope with the death of her mother six months prior, she consumes the comics constantly and soon becomes convinced that she begins to wholeheartedly believe that she has superpowers, like the ability to bend spoons, and indestructibility that prevents her from injury. Naturally, to go along with her powers she adopts a strict code of right and wrong, eventually seeking to punish those she perceives as abusive even as she tests her own limits. Her father, distraught and run down in his own grief, fluctuates between trying to dissuade her delusion and humoring her fantasy. This confounding mix of emotions adds a layer of complexity to an already emotionally fraught situation.
He at first attempts to steer her interest elsewhere, meeting her halfway with a new protagonist in her favorite medium, a student whose “superpower” is her ability to solve complex math problems. When this does not work, he turns to showing her by example, demanding in one of the film’s more heartbreaking moments that she bend a kitchen knife, stopping her only when her failure leads both to direct physical injury and an inability to change the shape of the utensil. It’s obvious, in this moment, that the both of them are simply trying to cope with a loss that has opened a cavern between them.
When Elisa returns home from the store one day insisting that she has seen the faceless man responsible for her mother’s death, she manages to convince her father to aid her in the quest for revenge. Meanwhile, between the alternating storylines of Elisa and the real-life version of her favorite superhero, their upstairs neighbors lead a tense game of emotional cat and mouse of their own. Úrsula (Silvia Abascal) and her artist husband Héctor (Asier Etxeandia) have an…unusually sharp dynamic, wherein she spends their savings on sex workers and he paints her paralyzed body in a wheelchair and exhibits it for an art show despite her express wishes to the contrary. It’s never anything less than uncomfortable to watch, albeit compelling.
The alternating storylines ultimately come together in overlapping and unorthodox ways that, though they make sense, they also each are dipped in an air of fantasy that makes them just a little hard to fully grasp onto. Jana San Antonio’s performance, and that of her heroine counterpart Blanca Valletbò are both remarkable. At once understated and magnetic, both of them balance the spotlight with aplomb, leaving us unable to look away every time they enter the screen.
AMAZING ELISA is nothing if not challenging, and as such might not work for everyone. While it is very much a spectacle of vengeance, it isn’t always cohesive and ultimately leaves in its wake far more questions than answers. Nevertheless, that which makes it a puzzle to watch is exactly what makes it rewarding and, should it find its way stateside, is well worth your time for the strength of the performances and vibrancy of set design alone.
Tags: Amazing Elisa, Asier Etxeandia, Blanca Valletbo, Fantastic Fest 2022, Film Festivals, Jana San Antonio, Revenge, Sadrac Gonzalez-Perellon, Silvia Abascal, Spanish films, Superheroes
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