Sundance 2025 Review: The Virgin of the Quarry Lake
When the object of her affection falls for an older woman, a teenage girl casts a curse upon the couple.
A homeless man is beaten nearly to death and walks away leaving his belongings behind in a shopping cart that wreaks of something unnatural rotting away; strange things start to occur in the neighborhood which causes concern among the residents that they have been cursed by him. Another devastating event witnessed by teenage Natalia is her beloved Diego falling for an older woman he met through an Internet chatroom.
There is a strangeness associated with the behaviors and imagery which makes the proceedings feel allegorical in the depiction of a teenage girl experiencing a sexual awakening. The desaturated colour palette emphasizes the atmosphere of desolation and the handheld camera makes the events feel gritty and in the moment. Not too sure about having menstrual blood squeezed into a cup of coffee or the closeup of the pulverized face of the homeless man which radiates the worst of human behaviour.
The symbolism and magical elements render the narrative more confusing than profound. The acting is okay with the weight resting on the shoulders of Dolores Oliverio who comes across as a gaunt beauty fueled by a frustration and rage that goes beyond being hormonal to becoming more sociopathic in nature. As the saying goes, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival takes place January 23 to February 2, 2025, in person and online, and for more information visit sundance.org.
Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.