[identities.]

Contracorriente was written and directed by Javier Fuentes-León, starring Cristian Mercado, Manolo Cardona and Tatiana Astengo.

Plot:
Miguel (Cristian Mercado) is a Peruvian fisherman and an integral part of the community in his hometown. He and his wife Mariela (Tatiana Astengo) are expecting their first child together and his life seems to be perfect. But there’s also Santiago (Manolo Cardona), an artist who came to the village to paint: Miguel and Santiago are in love, which nobody can know about. One day Santiago drowns – and since he can’t really leave until his body is found, he asks Miguel for help. But Miguel is not really prepared to let him go.

Contracorriente is a beautiful, haunting (no pun intended) film. The story is a wonderful metaphor, the cast is great and the cinematography is absolutely mind-blowing.

Somehow I had missed that this movie was a ghost story before going into the film. So I was pretty surprised by that plot twist – I didn’t expect it at all. But it was a good surprise and it works wonderfully and the whole thing had me bawling in 5 seconds flat.

The story is extremely touching and tear-jerkery (in a very good way) and beautiful and I was completely engaged – there was not one moment where I wasn’t invested. Fuentes-León paces the story perfectly – he grabs you in the beginning and doesn’t let you go.

The performances are wonderful. Not only Cristian Mercado and Manolo Cardona, but Tatiana Astengo as well – they really make you feel every emotion and your heart breaks with theirs. [Also, Cristian Mercado and Manolo Cardona are freaking hot. But that’s just an aside.]

And even though all of these things are that great, the best thing about the film is the cinematography which just surpasses everything else. Peru sure is pretty – and I’m pretty sure it never looked this good.

Summarising: You should definitely watch it. If nothing else it’s pretty people in a pretty landscape photographed prettily.