Rara

Usually I don’t feature films that don’t have a WLW lead character on this site. Rara is a bit of an exception. The film is about the children of a lesbian mother. The children are the lead characters more than the mom. But Rara’s focus is still very much about how homosexuality changes life experience. In this case, it changes it so much that even the children of gay people experience unique and often negative consequences.

Rara’s lead is 12 year old Sara (Julia Lübbert). Sara and her younger sister Catalina (Emilia Ossandon) live with their mother, Paula (Mariana Loyola). Paula now lives with her female partner, Lia (Agustina Muñoz). The girls’ father, Victor (Daniel Muñoz) is in the picture too. He too has a new partner, though one less involved in the girl’s lives than Lia. Sara leads a pretty normal pre-teen existence. she worries about boys and birthday parties. But more often than any of them would like, Sara’s “unconventional” home life affects her day to day. There’s controversy when Catalina draws a picture of her family that includes Lia. Sara’s father specifically isn’t happy with his kids’ home life.

In both story and shooting, Rara shows mastery of how to use a child as the point of view character. Visually, it’s simple things like shooting from a lower angle. It’s also the placement of the grown-up conflict in the background of scenes. Sara is doing something important to her in the foreground. And behind her, placed with less importance we see Paula and Lia discussing custody. Sara is a believable pre-teen character. She knows more of her parent’s worries than they want her to, but not the full shape of them. Her understanding and application of these grown-up problems is believably skewed. Rara made some really believable child characters. They’re not completely unaware nor are they wise beyond their years spouting moments of insight. Sara and Catalina are children, in all the real-life complexity that age has.

Rara is great at finding a balance between the every day and the unusual in its story about gay parenting. Especially when they’re at home, Sara and Catalina’s life is extremely normal. The conflicts and interactions they have with their mother are standard and relatable. It changes when outsiders look in on them. For mother Paula, there’s a constant stress about how her children’s actions reflect on her situation. Every fight, every act out, every slipping grade can and often is pinned on Paula’s personal life. Of course, this creates even more stress for the children. The film is really good at showing that yes, having same-sex parents is a unique experience. But what makes it unique is not how they parent or what it’s like at home. It’s how everyone else reacts to it.

So, Rara is maybe preaching to the choir a bit that gay families are fine and healthy. But there’s enough nuance that it doesn’t feel too preachy. Sara’s father Victor is more or less the villain. But he’s not some two-dimensional heartless homophobe. For most of the film, he’s a good father. He cares about his kids and is clearly worried about their upbringing. There’s a homophobic undertone for sure. But his motives are understandable and come from a place of love for his children. It’s when he stops listening to them that he properly becomes the bad guy. Sara wants to stay with her mother and Lia. But Victor lets his own emotions take priority and ignore what his child actually wants. That’s his biggest flaw. But it’s a flaw that’s extraordinarily true to real life parents and custody arrangements.

Rara is a bit light on conflict and actual plot points. It literally happens in the background. But that’s a great way to tell this story from the perspective of a child. It’s also a very nice looking film. Rara is a sweet story with an injection of tragedy stemming from gay inequality.

Overall rating: 7.6/10

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