Three children are still asleep when their mother shuffles, off-screen, out of their rural home in Costa Rica and leaves them. For Ale, Sofi, and Arturito (played by siblings Melissa, Valentina, and Arturo Chinchilla Pérez) life changes irrevocably at that instant. As they begin to acclimatise to their new existence, Ale must take on the role of guardian, and find some way to maintain her siblings’ fragile childhoods in the face of parental abandonment. Kim Torres’ Night Light is gentle and deliberate in its treatment of this scenario, never stretching for unnecessary drama when a quiet moment can offer something just as meaningful.
The casting of three real-life siblings works wonders. Scenes in which the three of them go swimming in a nearby river, or when they tickle each other while rocking in a hammock, brim with playful giggling that has a real authenticity and charming easiness. Their comfort with one another generates a specific quality of atmosphere which is then disrupted actively by the filmmakers. As the kids eat a cheap and bland dinner, or as the lights flick out due to a presumably overdue bill, more stilted moments are created in which the absence of their mother is suddenly palpable and the reality and difficulty of their situation creep into the edges of their almost-fairytale.
For Ale, it is not just her mother departing their village, but her own boyfriend, Jason (Javier Salas), who is moving to San Jose and invites her to visit. She smiles and dreams, but it is clear that she will be in loco parentis for the foreseeable future. Although they do not directly discuss the fact that their mother is gone for good – “she’s probably with the gringo” – the two sisters in particular share an unspoken understanding that this is a rite of passage, and they are feeling their way into a new future. A shared candlelit smile in a late scene provides a beautiful flash of conspiratorial resolve and mutual love that acts as a bright spark of comfort in an uncertain time.
Director: Kim Torres
Cast: Melissa C. Perez, Valentina Chinchilla Pérez, Artuto Gael Chinchilla Pérez, Javier Salas
Producer: Alejandra Vargas Carballo Screenplay: Kim Torres, Luisa Mora Fernández
Cinematography: Mel Nocetti
Editors: Mauricio Esquivel, Adriana Ramírez Meza
Sound: Gabriela Rivas Feoli Production company: Nocce Negra Producciones (Costa Rica)
Venue: Official Short Competition, Cannes
In Spanish
14 minutes
