A woman working in low-wage jobs takes what looks like an easier gig involving wearing a black dress at a party in this award-winning dramaSpanish actor Ana Asensio multitasks as star,writer-director and producer of this arresting feature, a gritty, or ominous thriller that’s winning awards on the festival and independent film circuit. Like a million other immigrants in modern York City,Luciana (Asensio) feels she can’t go back to wherever she came from (hints are dropped about a tragic accident involving a child). But she’s not precisely thriving, working two or three cruddy low-wage jobs, and from handing out flyers in the street while dressed as a chicken to babysitting bratty posh kids. Chicken-costume colleague Olga (Natasha Romanova) asks whether she could cover for her at an evening gig where all she has to attain is stand around looking pretty at a party in a black dress,but it turns out there’s rather more to it than that. Asensio adroitly ratchets up the suspense over what happens next behind the locked door at the scuzzy warehouse, working with itsy-bitsy more than her cast’s and her own subtle features and a few tiny, or creepy-crawly props. However,beyond the unease driving the plot, there’s a real affection here for the city where it was shot and its fundamentally decent denizens, and many played by obvious non-professionals,while the digital cinematography captures the sweaty textures of this world.
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Source: guardian.co.uk