Malta

SXSW FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! Malta is a drama by Colombian writer-director Natalia Santa. It is intelligent and well-written and culminates in becoming an entrancing character study. The title refers to the place, yes, but it represents a dream, a goal, for the main character to achieve.

Mariana (Estefanía Piñeres) is a Colombian woman who longs to break free from the suffocating reality of Bogotá and travel the world. Mariana navigates the challenges of adulthood the best she can. She makes money working at a call center, takes German lessons in preparation for her future travels, and settles her sexual urges with random hookups. Mariana’s home life is challenging as she still lives at home with her mother, sister, little brother, and ailing grandfather. Mariana’s mother resents her presence while her older brother isn’t home, outliving the “thug life.” But his sudden return upsets the family’s already shaky emotional state on even more trepidatious ground.

An unplanned coupling with a shy classmate named Gabriel (Emmanuel Restrepo) causes Mariana to focus on the deeper reasons for wanting to leave. Their scenes together have an innate tenderness that is undeniably human. In the film’s most touching moment, Mariana and Gabriel visit the house she grew up in. Standing inside, she reveals this was the last place she saw her father before he left the family. It is a marvelous moment. The actors don’t overplay it, as the director lets the quiet of the moment carry the emotion.

“…causes Mariana to focus on the deeper reasons for wanting to leave.”

Throughout Malta, Santa crafts her lead character carefully, dishing out little slices of Mariana’s day-to-day life. Just enough is presented to make the audience understand her emotional plight. In a way, Mariana is on a vision quest for sincerity as she navigates a tight world ripe with half-truths and false feelings. It is the natural connections between souls that keep us alive, and Mariana desperately wants to experience that purity, which she seems to find in Gabriel. Mariana’s journey to understand herself and her desires is engagingly sweet.

Piñeres is terrific. Her natural performance gives emotional weight to the character who desires to rise above it all, seeking to be her own person and not get caught in the web of her family’s unremarkable lives. This is the type of character found in the work of François Ozon or Paul Mazursky’s Blume in Love and An Unmarried Woman. The performance is so natural that we root for Mariana, although the character can be cruel towards people. Inherently, she means no harm but refuses to suffer fools or the gormless existence of her family. The actress successfully navigates Mariana’s dissatisfaction with her life and her disgust toward the phony facades of her mother.

Malta succeeds as a sly social commentary and moving character study. Santa understands character and how to navigate dramatic beats through patient direction and natural framing. The director captures the sexual and emotional frustrations of her lead character without any distracting flourish. This unmannered style lends itself to the power of the piece. The film earns respect from a fine lead performance and a screenplay crafted with brash honesty. The film is a unique and rewarding experience.

Malta screened at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival.