“Perhaps it is true what they say about us,” an Argentine-Chilean co-production, recreates a real episode committed by fanatics who believed in the Mayan prophecy of the end of the world.
Long ago, False prophets said that the world was going to end exactly on December 21, 2012 (the “Mayan prophecy”). For this reason, when on the 16th of that month Corinthians, who had just won the Libertadores with a practically unbeaten goal, finished the season by winning the Club World Cup in Tokyo, some crazy people, fans of that club, unfurled a banner in the stands that said “2012. “Now the world could end!”What more could they ask of life? That was complete happiness, an incomparable, harmless and contagious ecstasy.
On the other side of the Pacific, in Colliguay, Chile, Another class of fanatics, submissive members of a sect governed by a madman, began to become somewhat aware of the crime they had committed. High on ayahuasca and obsessed by the so-called end of the world, they had horribly sacrificed a baby just a few days old. To make matters worse, the mother herself had voluntarily given up the child.
From the 22nd onwards, there was deception, flight, police investigation, capture and conviction of those most responsible. Except for the ringleader, who escaped and one day appeared hanged in a shack in Cuzco. “Maybe what they say about us is true”a Chilean-Argentine co-production, takes that story, changing only a few names, and presents us with the drama of a divorced woman and her two daughters. One of them was in the sect. Little by little, that woman begins to discover what her daughter has experienced, and worse still, what she has built. How can we understand her? How can we understand the possible guilt of a bad upbringing? And how can we defend her from herself, and from the outside world?
At one point, chatting with her youngest daughter, the woman compares beliefs to a window that “separates you from others, but also protects you.” Later, the same window presents us with two different worlds: through one pane we see the irresponsible woman sunbathing, and through the other pane we see the domestic worker doing her chores, so much in the shade that she is barely noticeable. And both are more or less the same age. Another window, enormous, on the steep side of a mountain, opens completely, and seems to look out onto the abyss. The viewer can draw his own conclusions about this and other details.
Although affected by a somewhat slow and reticent style, “Maybe it’s true…” is a work worthy of attention, well acted, with careful photography, a plot of increasing and disturbing pressure, and, above all, with much to reflect on. (the role of parents, the bad mood of some young people, the failure of education, the delirium of certain drivers, etc.) Directors, Sofia Paloma Gomez and Camilo Becerra. Interpreters, Alina Kuppenheim, Camila Milenka, Julia Lubbert. Filming in Chile, post-production in Argentina (we still have top-notch specialists).
For those interested, there is a documentary on Netflix about the real events mentioned at the beginning, “Antares of Light: The Sect of the End of the World”You just have to have the stomach to see it.
“Maybe it’s true what they say about us” (Chile-Argentina, 2024); Dir.: Sofía Paloma Gómez and Camilo Becerra. Int.:Aline Kuppenheim, Camila Milenka, Julia Lubbert.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
