Medeas Trailer (2014)

Trailer for Medeas.

One of the greatest pleasures of programming is discovering new talent. In his sensual and rigorous feature debut, it is clear from the first frame that co-writer and director Andrea Pallaoro is enormously talented. Inspired both by Greek tragedy and by true stories, Medeas quietly reveals the inner desires of a farming family, through observational portraits set against an unforgiving and achingly beautiful Southern California landscape harkening back to the early films of Terrence Malick. Times are hard for dairy farmers, especially during a drought, and Ennis’ frustrations are staring to boil over.

Although he comes down hard on his children – especially his blossoming daughter and his moody teenage son – he is clearly devoted to his family. His hearing impaired wife, Christina (Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace), performs her duties in the home but her pent up passion is only evident when she leaves the homestead. Tensions well up beneath the surface like a tidal wave.