Cecilia (Leonor Varela) lives a troubled life–no more troubled than the rest of us, but troubled nonetheless. When she is forced to return home due to a health scare regarding her father, she experiences something that she never thought to be possible. When her deceased mother reappears, she begins to question her life in a new way, and her reality becomes far more challenging than before. The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future tells Cecilia’s story as she navigates a new reality, one in which she has little control.
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future is a tad convoluted, making it challenging throughout its entirety to understand some of the things that take place. Story on top of story on top of story–and I’m not sure that they ever really develop in a way that makes them whole–leaving bits and pieces uninteresting, and others far too underdeveloped ever to make sense. The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future is guilty of this from beginning to end–and it’s a hurdle that I’m not sure many viewers will be able to get over–challenging the film’s success throughout. Everything is intertwined, never allowing any of the storylines to exist on their own, but as they play out together they tend to step on one another’s feet, crippling them as individuals and as a whole. Ultimately the film lacks cohesion–and that’s not a good thing.
What The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future doesn’t lack is emotion. Even in the moments of confusion, the one thing that shines brightly is the emotion, constantly appealing to viewers in a very visceral and effective way. There are a few reasons why the emotion so brilliantly reaches viewers–one of them being the acting. The film’s leads, Varela and Mía Maestro (Magdalena) are powerful actors–and that allows them to exude emotion in each and every one of their scenes (and there are only a few that exclude the two actors). Even in the moments that I found myself struggling to understand the content, emotion reached me. Without the emotion being as powerful as it is, The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future isn’t a success–and I don’t believe that this is a matter of opinion, but rather of fact.
While the concept of The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future is of magical realism–what Writer-Director Francisca Alegria and Writers Manuela Infante and Fernanda Urrejola do is allow reality to play a pivotal role in the film. The way in which they do that more than any other is the use of sound. The chirping of crickets, the rustling of leaves, and other similar sounds extend themselves from beginning to end, and that allows The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future the ability to remain grounded and accessible. This is one of the catalysts for emotion, the fact that, even through the magical realism, The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future is able to reflect the things taking place in the real world.
I believe that The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future struggles from beginning to end in a number of ways–but the primary reason that the film struggles is its inability to effectively develop a storyline. With the jumbled mess of storylines, it often becomes difficult to follow along with Cecilia’s journey–and I often got lost in the process. Emotion is the saving grace, as it allows The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future to become accessible and to make sense to its viewers. Even with the struggles, the emotional aspect of the film is enough to keep it afloat, enough to intrigue viewers, and enough to find it some success.
Directed by Francisca Alegria.
Written by Francisca Alegria, Manuela Infante, Fernanda Urrejola.
Starring Leonor Varela, Mía Maestro, Enzo Ferrada, Benjamin Soto, Frederique Gudelj, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
