Adolfo – Review

This film screened at the 21st annual Tallgrass Film Festival.

To look at Sofía Auza’s Adolfo as a charming, feel-good piece would be to dismiss the depth and longing that truly lies at the bottom. Sure, the story is reminiscent of Elizabethtown but Momo (Rocío De La Mañana) is no manic pixie dream girl and Hugo (Juan Daniel García Treviño) is no shoe-designing magnate mourning the loss of a parent. Instead, the director takes a deep dive into the confusion of grief, the need for feeling, and the connections we find in the most unlikely of places.

It is also about a bewilderingly cute cactus named Adolfo.

Momo meets Hugo while waiting for the bus. She’s headed to a costume birthday party, dressed as Amelia Erhart and toting a skateboard with wings attached. Hugo, on the other hand, is wearing a suit and holding a clay pot with the titular character. Hugo won’t be able to catch a bus until morning so Momo, in her magnanimous kindness, brings him along for what turns out to be an odyssey of healing and self-affirmation for them both. It’s a romance but you shouldn’t get too hung up on that, much like its characters. There’s far too much else going on in their lives to dwell on an attraction that is clear from the opening moments.

The struggles of the two individual characters ripple throughout the film as they try to avoid what’s really going on. Hugo is really traveling to his father’s funeral while Momo is fresh out of rehab and trying to think about anything but a fix. Hugo’s father was a bastard and Momo seems to have been pretty hard to deal with in a previous life, but the two find solace in each other’s abilities to see beyond skin deep. This has all the makings of an adorable, dime-a-dozen romantic comedy and manages to avoid those pitfalls by being truly romantic instead. A myriad of episodic adventures lead to kisses, fights, and resolutions as each character is brought up to the brink of their own safety as the night progresses and they struggle forward. A tearful climax lands this quiet and beautiful film, nothing less than a perfect cap.

I adored this. I have so little to say because I’d rather not spoil the experience. Sofía Auza has crafted something sweet and adult in ways far beyond what would be expected. It’s a marvelous triumph and I can’t wait for you all to see it.