Camping

Scenario: Punto Norte camping ground in Cordoba Province, a pleasant, peaceful forest bordering a river. There are no markings on the ground so that tents can be erected or campers parked in any clearing. There is a nearby lodge, a combination bar/restaurant/hotel with bathroom and shower facilities for the campers. The decorative lights, Christmas tree and Santa Claus doll indicate the festive season. Year's end is high season for vacationers, but there are few campers at Punto Norte. The camping is operated by Amalia, a sixtyish widow (?), son Franco and daughter Carola.

As the movie begins Sofía is asking locals for instructions to drive to the camp. Sofía's family owns the land where Punto Norte sits. She and family used to spend summers at Punto Norte, but ceased to visit the place when she was 13. Sofía's mother has died a few months ago and Sofía brought her mother's testament to settle ownership with Amalia. Sofía is warmly received by Franco (perhaps with romance in mind) but faces a frosty reception from Amalia and Carola, that let her in on a dark secret involving both families that Sofía is supposed to know (but doesn't). That changes her plans for the testament and leads to a plot with touches of Gothic where the idyllic camp becomes a sinister and menacing place. The movie ends with a brazen (and funny) deus ex machina. A radio voice over the last titles informs us of the imminent conversion of the camping grounds into a soulless semi-urban development.

I liked this film. The script is clever, the dialogues are spontaneous and full of colorful colloquial Argentinian Spanish and the direction is fluid and dynamic. It was filmed within the workshop method that directors Alejandro Cozza and Rosendo Ruiz have used in various other movies.