Juan Jesús Varela as Sujo
“How long will you keep him hidden?... Till they forget.”
Following their moving and successful film ‘Identifying Features’ 2020, (Sin Señas Particulares) (see https://www.latinolife.co.uk/articles/sin-senas-particulares-dir-fernanda-valadez ), Rondero and Valadez have, once again, touched on the unbearable pressures brought to bear by the cartels on the people of Mexico, especially young men, who, almost as soon as they reach puberty, can, literally, be branded with huge number tattoos. They no longer have a name, like OCHO, Sujo’s sicario father.
The film is presented in 3 chapters that emphasize periods in Sujo’s life. Part 1 is about his having to adapt to life with his mystical aunt in the hills and listening to her “stories that have always been there.”
Little 4- year- old Josué (aka SUJO -after a horse he saw: “the most beautiful horse in the world”) lives in Tierra Caliente, (Michoacán)where his father, OCHO (Eight) is a hit man, or sicario, for the cartels. Ocho tries to care for his vulnerable kid, but is rebuked by his sister-in-law for being irresponsible. Having killed Genaro, the son of a local strongman, Ocho’s child is now in critical danger of being wiped out in revenge. At the same time, Ocho is murdered for letting the side down, leading to his home being destroyed with graffiti on the walls: “This is how traitors die like dogs”.
Kevin Aguilar as Sujo as a child
Aunt Nemesia manages to rescue Sujo from being executed in revenge, on condition they never return to the village, so the child has to adapt to life in the hills. As he gets older the sword of Damocles hangs over him: will he also become a sicario like his father?
In the following chapters, the child, now a teenager, has to confront his own needs and his restless curiosity for the town. Being stuck up in the hill is no longer an option and with his close brotherhood of two friends, they manage to get his father’s car started up and end up being dragged into the only local business there is, delivering drugs.
It’s not long before his slightly older friend Jeremy, who is like a brother, appears tattooed with a number. Despite being a kid who likes to read, Sujo is seduced to help out. Where will it lead? His aunt Nemesia is very upset: -
“You could have a different life; you are not yet a man.”
The last chapter concludes this story, will he, or won’t he? It begs the question as to whether a person can ever change such a pre-ordained fate?
Juan Jesús Varela, who was also in Identifying Features, excels in the role, expressing, with minimal effort, the subtle nuances of his impossible situation. “Love wasn’t meant for me.” The Art direction and atmospheric elements are powerful, you can almost smell the countryside. Nemesia (a charismatic Yadira Pérez Esteban) holds the balance between fear and determination in this cartel drama.
The cinematography plays with lighting and a tableau feel of static long takes. However, sometimes the pace is lost and the film feels too long. There are elements that are repeated for no obvious added effect, like the taunts from the local rough boxers from a gymnasium Sujo has to go past in the big city. The result is that some of these scenes feel unlikely and sadly, make the film falter along the way. However, the main thrust remains a strong story, well-told.
There has been careful and excellent casting in this film. The hypnotic Kevin Aguilar as the 4-year-old child, is perfect for the role, as are his ‘brothers’, Jai, played by Alexis Jassiel Varela, and his older brother Jeremy (Jairo Hernández Ramírez). They are the children of the only family friend, Rosalía (Karla Garrido) who regularly visits Nemesia and Sujo in the hills.
SUJO leaves you with a feeling that there is hope in the mix, and comes across as a sensitive and observant tale on the pressures the cartels place on young people in parts of Mexico. The violence can be heard but remains unseen, just off-screen. This is unsettling and awakening the worst of the imagination to full effect.
Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero, the dynamic duo.
As Astrid Rondero remarked in an earlier interview about the lack of graphic violence: “I think that’s a secret that the victim and the perpetrator have, and we shouldn’t be there sometimes, so we can get out the most human part of both stories. I think that’s why we decided not to see it but just to feel it …thousands of kids have become orphans due to the violence of the drug cartels. Some of them are children of the victims, “the collateral damage” of the drug war. But others are the sons and daughters of the people who actively participated as perpetrators. This is a story about these “others.”
SUJO has won 8 awards and had 25 nominations, including the Grand Jury Prize / World Dramatic Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
SUJO (2024)
To be screened at the BFI London Film Festival
Oct 16th: Curzon Soho -screen 1
Oct 19th: VUE West End- screen 5
SUJO (2024)
Writer/Directors: Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez / Producers: Diana Arcega, Jean-Baptiste Bailly, Gus Corwin, Virginie Devesa, Astrid Rondero, Jewerl Ross, and Fernanda Valadez / Cinematography: Ximena Amann / Editors: Susan Korda, Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez / Sound Designer: Josue Ramos Cruz and Omar Juárez Espino / Music: score by Astrid Rondero.
Cast: Nemesia: Yadira perez Esteban /Jai:Alexis Jassiel Varela /Jeremy:Jairo Hernández Ramírez /Susan: Sandra Lorenzano /Sujo child: Kevin Uriel Aguilar Luna /Rosalia:Karla Garrido.
