Clara Sola review: A mellow, mystical tale of a special woman and her sexual awakening

Starring Wendy Chinchilla Araya and directed by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, this beautiful film was Costa Rica’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards

Clara Sola

Story: Clara Sola, a 40-year-old woman is said to have special abilities and can converse with God. Very close to nature, this special woman is her family and town’s shrine of hope, as they believe her to have healing powers. Repressed all her life by her grandmother, Clara soon feels attracted to her niece’s new boyfriend. Exploring her sexuality, Clara soon breaks all barriers and starts healing herself. 

Review: For many, going to a theatre is about getting to experience something new and even getting touched by a story or its characters. Clara Sola did exactly this for me, and had me sobbing for hours after I left the cinema. The setting, the acting and most importantly, the titular character are all things that lend to the beauty of Clara Sola. From the offset, a story of a special woman unravels in front of our eyes, only for it to reach a conclusion that is both mystical and heart-wrenching at the same time. 

Clara Sola is a 40-year-old intellectually-challenged woman, who has an almost fairytale-like connection to animals and nature. With her visible ability to control animals like Yuca, the house horse, and the story of her having met the Virgin years before in her dreams, she has a reputation for being a mystical healer. Clara lives with her grandmother and nephew, with the former controlling all parts of her life. She also dolls up Clara and invites over villagers who believe in her ability to heal people. 

The beauty of Nathalie Álvarez Mesén and Maria Camila Arias’ screenplay is visible through the characters of the story. Clara is a free soul, who still lives in literal boundaries around her home. Fresia, the grandmother, is devout who rejects a free surgery that could repair Clara’s twisted spine that gives her daughter so much pain, because, “God gave her to me like this”. María is a loving and caring niece, who has the perspective of a modern-day woman, in a household that feels like it is from the previous century. 

Throughout the film, Wendy Chinchilla Araya’s portrayal of Clara stands out, pulling the viewer closer to the character with each movement and whatever short dialogues, she delivers. The character is also established as a constrained soul, who still has not had a chance to explore herself or her sexuality. This changes when she meets Santiago, a worker who arrives at the household and later, becomes Maria’s boyfriend. As Clara starts feeling attraction towards Santiago, she starts exploring her body sexually, but the grandmother soon steps in, putting a stop to it. 

But as Clara is strongly driven by desire, she starts breaking all the barriers she is put under, physically and emotionally, and starts exploring her life. With her grandmother still wanting to keep her in check and as a miracle worker, Clara finally breaks free. Dealing with loss, heartache, anger, frustration and being restricted from exploring her sexuality, Clara takes matters into her own hands. 

The ending of the film is mystic and touching and has a certain grandeur in how it is filmed. A dagger right into the hearts of the viewer, it fiddles with everything established so far and reveals the protagonist to be more than what meets the eye. With the viewer falling in love with Clara’s soul, the ending is a shrill to the heart, as the Beatle sounds in the film are pleasing to the ears. 

The cinematography throughout the film is a standout, with Sophie Winqvist Loggins’ camera capturing the setting to almost mimic the titular character. The often visibly dark yet beautiful shots do justice to the mood of the scene as well as the characters. Erick Vargas Williams, Valène Leroy and Aline Gavroy have also helped create the film’s allure with the sound. From the ever-busy jungles to the critters and crawlies, all are given life by the sound design. 

While Clara Sola would already look like a beautiful story on paper, the acting by all the actors involved brings the story to life on screen. But Araya as Clara Sola steals the show, drawing every eye with her flawless movements as a woman suffering from a bad spine to convince the audience that her abilities are otherworldly. 

With childlike innocence and powers that are godly, Clara Sola walks into the minds and hearts of its viewers and also leaves an impression that could even follow them after the film has ended. This almost poetic film does a job well done by taking the oppressed female lead into a path of self-discovery and breaking her shackles, captured in a cinematic experience that is not to be missed. 

Verdict: Clara Sola is a beautiful film that tells a mystical tale of an extraordinary woman. While the story in itself is appealing, the filming and acting give this film an impact that could follow you even after the film ends. Mellow and emotional at the same time, Clara Sola is a film that deserves to be watched. 

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