Belén

Bluesky

A real-life legal case that helped pave the way for the legalisation of abortion in Argentina provides the bedrock for actress Dolores Fonzi’s second feature as a director. A largely straightforward drama that is a bit too structurally loose for its own good, Argentina’s Oscar nominee is buoyed considerably by Fonzi’s own central performance and a solid ensemble cast.

Belén’s intense opening also helps to hook viewers in as we watch a young woman, Julieta (Camila Plaate), arrive at hospital with intense abdominal pain. Javier Juliá’s camera initially tracks her movements in the concentrated Dardennes’ fashion, her confusion paramount as a doctor presumes it’s appendicitis. Soon it transpires she’s experiencing a miscarriage, which only fuels the emotional stakes further. As she’s receiving treatment, the police come in and handcuff her, accusing her of deliberately aborting the foetus, which was illegal in Argentina in 2014 when the film is set.

Fast-forwarding two years, the film shows injustice for Julieta has only continued as an uncaring public defender (Julieta Cardinali) has scarcely bothered with her case and landed her innocent client with an eight-year term. It’s at this point that activist lawyer Soledad Deza (Fonzi) steps in and takes up the cause, giving Julieta the pseudonym Belén in order to protect her identity.

What follows is a loose legal procedural that, while never matching the forcefulness of its opening scenes, takes time to show the impact the case had on Deza’s homelife. Julieta sometimes feels on the fringes of her own story, however, with the focus so firmly on the machinations to try to free her that she remains rather opaque as a character, with Plaate merely called upon to serve up whatever emotion is required when the action returns to her. It must be said, however, that the star, who won a Silver Shell in San Sebastian for this supporting turn, does an exceptional job of keeping us with Julieta despite this limited screen time. Her sidelining is also, perhaps, part of the point, given that Julieta is shown to be a pawn in a patriarchal game where nobody except her and her legal team are playing by the rules. A nightmare sequence also feels like an unnecessary flourish in an otherwise naturalistic drama.

Energetic pacing means there’s not too long to dwell on the film’s weak points, however, and it builds to a hopeful rallying cry for feminist campaigners everywhere.

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