BY MONIQUE QUINTANA
Because love can be nightmarish at times…
Mad Love, 2001
This biopic complicates the legend of "Juana la Loca," the 16th century ruler of Castile who falls into a doomed love with her husband, Felipe I of the Habsburg dynasty. This film is a feast of court intrigue, sex, and black magic, but its queen, played brilliantly by Pilar López de Ayala, is its heart, arguing that women should have the right to love to their greatest capacity.
May, 2002
Poorly reviewed when it first premiered, May, whose lead is played by Angela Bettis, is an immensely sad and grotesquely beautiful take on the Frankenstein narrative. With recollections of teen bully horror films such as Carrie and Jawbreaker, this tale is very strange and nauseating at times, but its high concept approach and aesthetic makes it feel like retro camp and avant-garde simultaneously.
The King, 2005
This film follows a young Mexican-American man named Elvis, played by Gael García Bernal, who seeks out his white father, who is a pastor of a popular church. When he is deemed illegitimate and rejected, he carries out a dark plan of revenge, leading him down a tragic spiral of classic proportions.
la mujer de mi hermano, 2005
Barbara Mori plays Zoe, a woman who grows dissatisfied with her husband and begins an affair with her husband’s younger artist brother. Casting its eyes on several characters, the film has an interesting domino effect, revealing just how high the stakes are when grim family secrets are revealed.
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Womb, 2010
An unnerving tale of a woman who decides to carry, give birth, and raise the clone of her dead lover. Eva Green, a queen of gothique, plays contemporary in her unlikableness and Matt Smith is striking in his dual roles of lover and son. The backdrops of dark desolate beaches, child-ruled forests, and rural wilderness add to the harsh bleakness of this bizarre sci-fi narrative.
Amor Eterno, 2014
In this gem of the queer horror genre, Joan Benntallé plays a professor who chances upon his teenage student in an obscure Spanish forest and forges a connection with shocking ramifications. A fever dream of lust, obsession, and voyeurism, this film’s finale is unsettling to say the least.
Monique Quintana is a beauty, fashion, and wellness editor for Luna Luna. She is also a contributor at Clah Media and blogs at Razorhouse. Her work has appeared in Huizache, The Acentos Review, and Bordersense, among other publications. Her work is forthcoming in Retell It Like It Is: Fairy Tales By People of Color by Alternating Currents Press and Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired By Lana Del Rey and Sylvia Plath by Clash Books.