Beloved Mother: A Strange, Hectic Trip into Orol’s World

Is this for you?

If you have zero patience for movies that feel like they were edited with a pair of rusty kitchen scissors, stay far away. But if you dig old-school, weirdo cinema where the plot jumps around like a caffeinated squirrel, you might actually have a blast.

Fans of Why Not Marry will probably feel right at home with the erratic energy here. It’s definitely not for anyone who needs their logic spoon-fed to them.

The Orol Factor

Watching a Juan Orol film is always a bit like trying to read a map written in invisible ink. You know there’s a destination, but you’re mostly just staring at the page wondering how you got here.

Beloved Mother doesn't shy away from the heavy stuff, but it handles it with such a blunt, frantic speed that you barely have time to process the tragedy before someone is singing or crying in a doorway. It’s dizzying. Honestly, a little exhausting.

Observations from the couch

• The pacing? It’s a suggestion, not a rule.
• Some of these sets look like they were built five minutes before the cameras rolled. I love it.
• The music choices are... bold. Sometimes it feels like the orchestra is playing a different movie entirely.
• There’s a moment with a doorway that lingers about ten seconds too long. I actually checked my phone to see if the video froze. It didn't.

There’s a specific look in the eyes of the cast that says, "I hope this is the right take because we aren't doing another one." It gives everything this weird, raw tension that you just don't get in polished modern stuff.

It reminds me a bit of the frantic, uneven vibe of Dangerous Waters, though maybe even a little more unhinged. You can almost feel the movie trying to convince you that this specific scene is the most important one, right before it cuts to something totally unrelated.

Don't look for deep meaning in every line. If you do that, you'll just end up with a headache. Just sit back and let the chaos happen. It’s a trip. 🎞️