Tona is Sol's father and he's very sick. He will soon die and the movie follows his family going through the preparations of his farewell birthday party as well as the party itself.

The movie focuses on Sol's day and how she is dealing with this as well as all the other family members and their various ways of coping (or not...) with Tona's imminent death.

While the acting is top notch, the subject is really depressing and the fact that the film is basically a huis-clos (even the scene shot in the car doesn't show anything but the car's interior) makes it a suffocating and unpleasant experience. Obviously the death of a loved one is a mournful experience but that degree of realism can hit you pretty hard.

The movie theater audience felt certainly just as drained as I was at the end. People just sat in their seats as the end credits rolled in, taking in the huge blow they just experienced. Do NOT watch this movie if you're already feeling low.

Among the 10 best films I saw in 2023, four are about little girls who, in their childhood and growth, confront situations that transcend their daily activities, due to the strength or charm of the events. In the medium-length film «Le pupille» by the Italian director Alice Rohrwacher, the events that the girls experience during Christmas, in the middle of World War II, are closer to play and rebellion; but in «Alma viva» by the Portuguese cineaste Cristèle Alves Meira, «Brujería» by the Chilean filmmaker Christopher Murray and now in «Tótem» by Mexican director Lila Avilés, three girls must face powerful situations that affect their family stability.

«Tótem» revolves around the birthday party of Tonatiuh (played by screenwriter Mateo García Elizondo), a 27-year-old painter who is dying of cancer. This celebration will mark the life of his daughter, little Sol (Naima Sentíes), who, in the morning, arrives at the house of her psychologist grandfather (and father of Tonatiuh or Tona), where the party will be held. However, staying at her father's house is not a pleasant experience. The residents include two aunts who are mothers and do not seem to have a partner of any gender; three cousins and the woman who takes care of Tona. Among the eight residents there is a dynamic that makes the family dysfunction very evident, and Tona's illness seems more like a consequence of this toxic coexistence.

There is no mention of why Sol and her mother do not live with them, even though they both adore Tona, who is dying out, getting thinner, weaker and more suffering, and who will need extra strength and effort to be present at the party. During the morning, a spiritualist (who carries out a spiritual cleansing of the house, through rituals and incense) and a client of the grandfather also arrive: both women contribute to creating our impression of emotional imbalance. The house (no misogynistic allusion on my part) is like a matriarchal cage, where the men seem almost mutilated: the grandfather has lost the voice and Tona is dying. And I feel this impression because of the strength of the three main female characters in the house, compared to grandfather and Tona, who seem like byproducts of this family unit.

The excellence of Liles' direction and script, Diego Tenorio's cinematography, and of the performances by all cast members, combine to bringing this family to life on a crucial day in their lives and creating an exceptional film.

Subtle but thoughtful family drama in which acclaimed director Lila Áviles accurately reflects the different nuances of each character and shows the different ways in which each of them faces an imminent tragedy within the family nucleus.

Lila develops the plot in an almost poetic way with visually attractive but meaningful shots that represent the interaction between the characters.

The young and promising actress Naíma Sentíes offers a spectacular performance in which she manages to communicate through her gaze and few dialogues the endless emotions that a child can't fully process in such a complex situation.

Warm and emotional, Tótem is a film that stands out from the average Mexican production in terms of substance and form and that I hope achieves its well-deserved Academy Award nomination.