‘Cadejo Blanco’ Review: Negotiating Guatemalan Street Life

The description of “Cadejo Blanco,” directed by Justin Lerner, reads like a thriller: After her sister disappears, a younger Guatemalan girl infiltrates a gang to attempt to discover her. But there are few thrills within the movie, which strikes slowly and with an excessive amount of ease by way of the world of Guatemalan gangs. It’s fantastically shot and offers an genuine view of road life there, however the characters’ journeys aren’t sufficiently developed, and the resolutions really feel unearned.

The movie kicks off in Guatemala City with Sarita (Karen Martínez) being dragged out for an evening of clubbing along with her free-spirited sister, Bea (Pamela Martínez), who had the ulterior motive of assembly up along with her boyfriend Andrés (Rudy Rodríguez). Sarita leaves the bar early, and the subsequent morning, discovers that Bea by no means got here dwelling. Sarita suspects Andrés, who’s a gang member, so she travels to the coastal city of Puerto Barrios to befriend him and discover Bea.

But Sarita’s mission to seek out her sister appears rapidly forgotten, because the movie’s focus shifts to the day-to-day interactions of the gang members. Perhaps that is intentional. The director solid predominantly nonprofessional actors within the movie, amongst them real-life gang members from Puerto Barrios. Many of the solid members had a hand in remodeling the script to raised replicate their lives and day by day vernacular. But this authenticity was not sufficient to make up for the shoddy storytelling. Had the movie leaned extra deliberately into the inside lives of its characters moderately than positioning itself as a thriller, it could have been a extra satisfying watch.

Cadejo Blanco
Not rated. In Spanish, with subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes. In theaters.