From Cannes, Chilean filmmaker Marcela Said’s sophomore feature explodes class privilege when a wealthy woman – the dynamite Antonia Zegers – falls for her older riding instructor, a man accused of war crimes.

Fortyish Mariana (Zegers) feels trapped in the elite of Chilean society. Estranged from both her husband and father, she begins an affair with her riding instructor Juan (Alfredo Castro), an older man and former colonel who was accused of human rights crimes under Pinochet.

Driven by a turbulent performance from Zegers, Said’s film satirises Chile’s entrenched class privilege and unpacks its troubled political history, as Mariana and Juan’s relationship scandalises those around her. As the military man with a shady past, Castro – Zegers’ co-star from Pablo Larrain’s The Club (MIFF 2015) and No (MIFF 2012) – is memorably understated in support. Screened as part of the Cannes Critics Week.

'Alive to the occasion, Zegers, who displays more energy than Julia Louis-Dreyfus on a fast day, power-blasts through a thicket of male condescension and criminality.' – Hollywood Reporter