Film Review: Identifying Features

Fernanda Valadez’s debut film, Identifying Features, is a Mexican-Spanish co-production that explores the violence, abductions, and cartel activity that often occurs near the U.S.-Mexico border. The film follows Magdalena (Mercedes Hernández), a woman from Guanajuato, Mexico whose son, Jesús (Juan Jesús Varela), left some time ago with a friend, heading to America. However, a lot of time has passed since he left, and he has not been in contact with his mother. He’s gone missing. So, she goes on a journey to find him, hoping he is still alive, meeting people along the way who are in similar situations.

Valadez’s approach to the film is patient, lyrical, and haunting. Her script, which she co-wrote with Astrid Rondero, tends to keep dialogue to a minimum, putting greater emphasis on its visuals. The initial glimpses of Magdalena’s son is shown in a very dreamlike manner, like we’re watching her memory. The cinematography from Claudia Becerril Bulos is beautiful in how it bounces between the dreamy and the grounded, perfectly capturing the emotions of the characters in a way that doesn’t feel obvious or hokey. It’s a deeply intimate film, and one that explores a perspective we rarely get to see in films like this.

Much of the film has Magdalena going through various offices and people, trying to find answers within the chaotic bureaucracy of border and travel offices. I love the way the film captures these moments. I think about one sequence where she is talking to this woman who doesn’t have the kind of answers Magdalena’s looking for, and the whole sequence is done in one shot with an over-the-shoulder shot, focusing on Maddalena’s face, never once showing the worker she’s talking to. And seeing these places where bodies are kept while others are also hoping to find loved ones is a haunting sight.

A little ways into the film, we also come to meet Miguel (David Illescas), a young man who has just been deported from America, and is now forced to return to a home he hasn’t been in contact with for several years. Eventually, he crosses paths with Magdalena, and the two form a bond and try to help each other out, having both been in a situation where things have seemed hopeless, and not going the way either of them had hoped. It’s a heartwarming element in a film that is otherwise pretty harsh and more than willing to dig into the realities of this kind of situation.

Mercedes Hernández is terrific in the film. Her soft-spoken demeanor serves as a compelling contrast with her determination and resilience. She gets so much emotion across, sometimes without even saying a word. You can’t help but root for her, and hope she finds her son. David Illescas offers a more understated performance, but it is one that still really effective and moving nonetheless. The two have a really good dynamic in their scenes together, while effortlessly carrying the sequences when they were on their own. But even actors who appear in a single scene do a great job at leaving a mark with their limited screen time. It’s just well performed all around.

The quiet, methodical pacing of Identifying Features might not work for everybody, I myself found certain moments to drag a bit, however it ultimately comes together beautifully, in a manner of speaking. The big payoff to the journey is one that I found incredibly striking, upsetting, and one that I doubt I will be able to shake off my mind anytime soon. Any issues I may have had with how the film moved was gone because I was just so taken aback by its conclusion, and I do mean that in a good way. I am so impressed by how Fernanda Valadez put a film like this together, and with so much empathy and a striking eye for images that will leave a lasting impression. This is definitely one of those films that many will only ever want to see one time, but for that one time, despite the darkness it explores, I think it’s definitely a journey worth taking.

Identifying Features will open in select theaters and virtual cinemas on January 22nd.