Huesera: The Bone Woman Review

Huesera: The Bone Woman review.

Huesera: The Bone Woman combines a few different types of horror movies into one relatable horror experience. One of the year’s best.

New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.

Huesera: The Bone Woman

Directed by Michelle Garza Cervera

Written by Michelle Garza Cervera and Abia Castillo

Starring Natalia Solián, Alfonso Dosal, Mayra Batalla, Mercedes Hernández, Sonia Couoh and Aida López

Huesera: The Bone Woman Review

Full disclosure…I don’t have the faintest idea of what kinds of fears go along with pregnancy.  It’s to Huesera: The Bone Woman’s credit that they make this aspect of the movie completely relatable anyway.  It’s not the only kind of horror that the movie taps into…but it is a perfect example of how the craft of the movie overcomes need for previous experience with them.  The fears associated with impending motherhood are just the tip of the iceberg here…failing to connect with it could have blocked off its deeper meanings.  Instead, it acts as a gateway into a world of personal, and recognizable horror.

Valeria (Natalia Solián) is trying to get pregnant.  After she does, she begins to experience horrors both physical and psychological.  Every sign seems to point to motherhood not being a fit for her.  Desperate to “fix” herself…she contemplates turning to dark rituals to make her terrors disappear.  Once the baby comes…it may be too late.

It would be easy to describe Huesera: The Bone Woman as a message movie.  Huesera doesn’t hide its intention to serve as a commentary on forcing people to conform to societal norms.  It does, however, cleverly use more relatable fears to deliver it.  We’ve seen the basic ideas Huesera peddles as recently as a few weeks ago in Hulu’s Clock.  Although the two films share similar DNA about societal pressures and a need to “fix” yourself if you don’t comply to them…Huesera trades in scarier stuff.

While it shows off some impressive spectral body horror and ghostly moments…the true terror unleashed by the Bone Woman is firmly grounded in reality.  Valeria shouldn’t be a mother.  The film repeatedly tells us this.  She marries and tries to get pregnant because that’s what she’s “supposed” to do.  Back turned on who she is. Left the things that make her happy behind. Because the world around her says that this is what is right.  Never mind that she’s proven to be unfit for care for a child in the past (and present).  Once the baby arrives that will surely change.  Right?

The scariest moment in Huesera: The Bone Woman happens after the baby has been born.  It happens off screen.  It’s a true hold your breath moment held for a seemingly interminable amount of time.  It’s one of the most intensely worrying scenes in horror since that scene in Hereditary.  It brings home the reality of all the things Huesera has prepared us to fear. 

That preparation works in Huersera too.  The unexpected moments of bone cracking body horror and what did I just see apparitions keep the viewer as on edge as Valeria is.  Impressive contortion effects keep the horror imagery in camera and at its most effective.  A flashback to Valeria’s life before marriage deepens her character and makes her situation relatable to more than just people afraid of impending parenthood. 

Huesera: The Bone Woman makes us question what is real and, more importantly, what is right.  Valeria contemplates a dark arts ritual to “fix” herself. It confronts us with a question. What needs fixing?  A curse? Or, is she incapable of fitting her square peg into the round hole society is trying to force her into.  By the time the question is asked…you’re fully invested in Valeria’s story.   That is due in no small part to Solián’s lead performance.  She draws you onto her side even when you aren’t sure where she stands.  Whether it’s prenatal fears or post-partem depression, ghostly imagery, or brutal bone shattering…as she loses her way, we follow with her…hoping that she can find it.  Fearing that it’s already too late.

Scare Value

Take a bit of body horror, add in a dash of ghostly horror…mix it with some ritual horror…Huesera: The Bone Woman mixes up a relatable cocktail. On the surface it’s about the fears of pregnancy. But…there’s a deeper connection here. Especially for those who feel they aren’t quite what they are meant to be. Even if neither apply to you…there’s still a damn effective horror movie here for you.

4/5

Huesera: The Bone Woman Links

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Huesera: The Bone Woman Trailer

If you enjoyed this review of Huesera: The Bone Woman, check out other new movie reviews like Candy Land and Burial