Grief can be a destabilizing force, all-consuming and hard to face. Once the funeral is over, how do you begin to move on? What do you do when everyone seems to have moved on without you? Writer/director Merced Elizondo’s The Mourning Of embraces the pain of that question, in which a woman, trapped in her own grief, seeks connection in an unlikely place.
The film begins outside of a church as attendees clad in black filter through the doors. Maribel (Natalia Villegas) stands across the street by her car, head buried in a newspaper. Red pen in hand, she treats the obituary page like the classifieds, circling and highlighting death announcements. Consumed by her own mother’s recent death, Maribel has been attending other people’s funerals for weeks as an attempt to grieve, with a stack of programs littering the backseat of her car as proof. Unfortunately, her actions start to catch up with her as she attracts the attention of Father Tomas (Julio César Cedillo), the priest officiating the service.
Despite having very few lines, Villegas is remarkable in the lead, managing to deftly navigate Maribel’s difficult emotional state. She carries the weight of her unprocessed sorrow in every frame, along with her desperation for connection and catharsis. The structure of the story allows the audience to get caught in Maribel’s head. We bear witness to her intrusive thoughts, haunted by flashbacks to her mother’s funeral and fantasizing about comforting other mourners.
Cedillo also turns in a strong performance as Father Tomas. However, his role is undermined by the script’s portrayal of a priest, depicting frustration with Maribel as her appearances start to attract unwanted attention from his congregation. As the priest presiding over the funeral masses, he’s positioned as a source of comfort and moral guidance, but he snaps at Maribel, swears, and even takes the Lord’s name in vain. While he eventually softens into empathy, his harsh rebuke seems more in service of inventing a conflict in the story rather than developing consistent characterization. Further, Father Tomas’ character is tasked with providing the bulk of the exposition, which can occasionally feel stilted because Maribel’s character feels so well-established with so little dialogue.
The technical elements do an excellent job in establishing the tone and heart of the story, particularly the cinematography (Matheus Bastos) and music. René G. Boscio’s score, sweeping classical orchestration heavily featuring the organ, feels perfectly suited to the church setting and the high emotional stakes. The cinematography also contributes to the somber and contemplative tone, favoring slow tracking shots and pushes, allowing the film to breathe in Maribel’s most vulnerable moments. The world feels fully lived-in, with beautiful and specific production design from Jonathan Rudek, from the crucifixes hanging on the walls, to the funeral card for her mother that Maribel keeps on her car visor.
With powerful visuals and performances, The Mourning Of is an emotionally rich snapshot of a woman in crisis and a profound meditation on the difficulty of the grieving process.
