| With humor and heart, this offbeat drama tells the story of Cayetana, a solitary Peruvian girl with a vivid imagination, who is convinced that she will have to die the day her brother is born.
Peru, 1982. Cayetana, a nine-year-old girl, grows up in a privileged household in Lima. She is raised by maids. Her mother is abroad for several months with her stepfather, studying. Finally, the couple returns and Cayetana learns that her mother is pregnant. Her vivid imaginary world, in which she had secluded herself, collapses. She is convinced that she will die the day her little brother is born. She turns to her father, but he is an unreliable good-for-nothing. She plunges back into her fantasy world, populated by the historical national heroes who she has learned about in school – if she must go down, she will do so like a hero. Meanwhile, the house is bustling with preparations for the Christmas holidays, with everybody seemingly unfazed by the terrorist attacks shaking the country. Only Cayetana doesn’t share in this joy. She is engaged in a desperate struggle to remain present in the eyes of everyone – and especially her mother. When her grandmother takes her to the beach along with her favourite cousin Jimena, things finally begin to look up…
A life-affirming and humorous journey into both the reality and imagination of a 9-year-old, as seen through the eyes of South American Magic Realism. |
