Clara Sola

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2:12

Clara Sola

2022

1h 48m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

57 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

In a remote village in Costa Rica, 40-year-old Clara endures a repressively religious and withdrawn life under the command of her mother. Her uncanny affinity for creatures large and small allows Clara to find solace in the natural world around her. Tension builds within the family as Clara's younger niece approaches her quinceañera, igniting a sexual and mystical awakening in Clara, and a journey to free herself from the conventions that have dominated her life.

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Critics Consensus

Discomfiting and dreamy, Clara Sola brings a sensual surreality to a story of oppressed autonomy, with debuting star Wendy Chinchilla Araya providing a mesmerizing focal point.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

11/20/2022

3/5

This atmospheric debut from Costa Rican-Swedish director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén combines mud, moss and mysticism to arresting effect.

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Finlay Spencer

Little White Lies

11/16/2022

2/5

In the end, the metaphor gets in the way of the emotion.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

11/15/2022

4/5

Clara Sola is superbly filmed and composed with a very humid sense of atmosphere, and Araya’s performance is a miracle of sympathy and candour.

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Arthur Goyaz

Loud and Clear Reviews

08/07/2024

3/5

It’s difficult to explain what exactly held me back from liking this film more, but while Clara’s connection to her surroundings and her pursuit of clarity was reasonably expressed, I had a hard time connecting to all of it myself.

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Annlee Ellingson

CineWomen

07/28/2024

“Coming-of-age” isn’t usually a genre applied to stories about forty-year-old women, but Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s Clara Sola embraces the challenge with an intimate portrait of a sometimes difficult protagonist with a dash of magical realism.

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Tina Kakadelis

Beyond the Cinerama Dome

02/25/2024

Clara Sola shows what happens when enough finally becomes enough. A breaking point decades in the making over something that never should have been taken from Clara in the first place: her autonomy.

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Ravenswood R

@RT16435246 03/19/2023

Wendy Chinchilla Araya is outstanding in every way, flawlessly portraying the sometimes frightening emotions of the main character Clara. Many themes are explored here, exploitation, oppression, repression, abuse, nonconformity, and the often confusing and ultimately futile attempts we make to communicate with each other. The film has a lot to offer and is beautifully well made and engrossing. Some of the supernatural touches seem off kilter and a bit out of place, but forgiving that this is a wonderful and exceptionally touching film.

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Nathalie Álvarez Mesén

Director

Wendy Chinchilla Araya

Clara

Ana Julia Porras Espinoza

Maria

Daniel Castañeda Rincón

Santiago

Flor María Vargas Chaves

Fresia

Nathalie Álvarez Mesén

Writer

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Clara Sola: Trailer 1

2:12

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Synopsis

In a remote village in Costa Rica, 40-year-old Clara endures a repressively religious and withdrawn life under the command of her mother. Her uncanny affinity for creatures large and small allows Clara to find solace in the natural world around her. Tension builds within the family as Clara's younger niece approaches her quinceañera, igniting a sexual and mystical awakening in Clara, and a journey to free herself from the conventions that have dominated her life.

Director: Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
Producer: Nima Yousefi, Alan McConnell, Géraldine Sprimont, Anne-Laure Guégan, Karina Avellán Troz, Marcelo Quesada
Screenwriter: Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, Maria Camila Arias
Distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Production Co: Resolve Media, Film Capital Stockholm, Hobab, Need Productions, Laïdak Films, Pacífica Grey
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 1, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 6, 2024
Runtime: 1h 48m