La Caja (2021)

It’s time for a new Mubi Monday review! This week we’ll take a look at Venezuela’s submission to the 2022 Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film with…La Caja (2021).

Title: La Caja

Director: Lorenzo Vigas

Released: September 6, 2021 (Venice International Film Festival)

Runtime: 1 hour 32 Minutes

Available to stream: Exclusively on Mubi

Hatzín (Hatzín Oscar Navarrete) has learned of the unfortunate passing of his father. He leaves Mexico City and travels by train to collect his father’s remains, set to return with them to his grandmother.

When Hatzín arrives, he signs paperwork and receives a large metal box along with a photo ID of his father. Now in possession of what he believes to be his father, Hatzín boards a bus back to Mexico City. However, as the bus departs, Hatzín sees someone bearing a striking resemblance to his father on the side of the road.

The man, Mario (Hernán Mendoza) is handing out coats to migrant workers. Hatzín follows him and calls out his father’s name. Mario turns, telling Hatzín that he is mistaken and should get back on his bus. However, Hatzín doesn’t believe him and begins to hang around to try and prove himself right.

Mario starts off annoyed but soon considers that having Hatzín around might be beneficial. The kid seems smart, so why not put him to work? He can help Mario recruit migrants for factory jobs. And since Hatzín has stayed in school and is educated, he’ll be perfect to handle the paperwork side of things.

As Hatzín learns the ropes and proves himself to be useful, he begins to gain exposure to more and more of the behind-the-scenes goings on.

The more he sees and learns, the more Hatzín begins to question things.

Is Mario truly the man that Hatzín believes him to be?

If he isn’t careful, will Hatzín become just another statistic?

This is a very straight-forward, pull no punches type of story. There are no warm fuzzy happy endings or moments of comedic relief here.

In fact, it’s a rather simple story that slowly expands and evolves as we progress. What begins as a search for Hatzín’s father slowly evolves into a look at the dark world of migrant workers.

Hatzín Oscar Navarrete is fantastic here as young Hatzín. Not only is he having to cope with the uncertainty of his father’s remains, but he then is also having to deal with and process the harsh truths of conditions as a migrant worker. As he experiences the harshness of employment contracts, the ease at which employers violate said contracts, and the conditions for the workers, we slowly see Hatzín’s innocence begin to fade away.

While there isn’t anything very uplifting or optimistic here, there is an important light being shined on these conditions.

One thing that especially stood out to me was how this felt like a documentary more so than a narrative. I tend to think that this approach helps more than hurts the end result. Rather than spending time trying to build character relationships, we’re thrown right into the mix with Hatzín and experience everything through his eyes. Little to no information, unsure of what the truth is, just trying to figure it out as we go.

If you have not yet seen La Caja (2021), please consider this your recommendation to remedy that. Yes, it moves at a slower pace. However, it rewards your patience and is deserving of at least one viewing.

If you’ve seen La Caja (2021), tell me what you thought of it in the comments below or on social media!

Curious to see what else I’ve been watching? Give me a follow over on Letterboxd.