Francisco Lezama’s short film, An Odd Turn, takes place in 2019 in Buenos Aires. A young woman, Lucrecia (Laila Maltz), works the night shift as a museum security guard. While on break, she foretells the future for a co-worker using a pendulum and weirdly sees a vision of the sudden increase in the value of the U.S. dollar. When unjustly fired for an implied sexual encounter at work, Lucrecia acts upon her premonition and buys U.S. dollars with her severance.
With a new burst of cash and confidence, Lucrecia hooks up with a good-looking agent from the exchange office. After an afternoon quickie, they scheme to earn more dollars, as the agent has been sleeping with older clients for cash. Lucrecia suggests he find more clients using Grindr. The plan appears to work until she tries to get her partner to play her fortune-telling game.
“The plan appears to work until she tries to get her partner to play her fortune-telling game.”
While I like stories that raise the stakes toward a big ending, An Odd Turn examines the moral compromises its protagonists take to survive during economic hardships. Lucrecia attempts to find love and companionship while compromising herself and her love.
It’s hard not to compare how stories are told internationally to how they are told in the United States. The difference with An Odd Turn is that in the U.S., we rely on action with dialogue to explain a character’s motivations. In An Odd Turn, everything you need to know about Lucrecia is her facial expressions, body language, and subtext. In the end, I found myself chewing and digesting the story to answer all of my “why” questions as Lucrecia’s life spirals steadily into odd directions.
"…her life spirals steadily into odd directions."
