Director: Laura Mora Ortega
Writers: Maria Camila Arias and Laura Mora Ortega
Stars: Carlos Andres Castañeda, Cristian David, Davinson Florez
Synopsis: Follows five young men and about the marginalized, excluded humanity who seeks a place in the world.
Reality and dream-like coming-of-age angst meet with one another in Laura Mora Ortega’s Golden Shell-winning The Kings of the World (Los Reyes del Mundo) – an engrossing and grievous portrayal of excluded youth and striving for a place in the world.
Whether we like it or not, we all have to admit that the world is immensely cruel. The universe doesn’t owe us anything; it doesn’t need to give in to our prayers. We might rely on chance and luck, but the only way to strive for a better life is to fight for the things we want, not only for ourselves but for the people we cherish. So, we hold on to that lingering and slowly-fading sensation of hope to keep our heads high. This yearning for better things to come fuels Laura Mora Ortega’s latest feature film, The Kings of the World (Los Reyes del Mundo, in its original Spanish title). Its quintet of protagonists, who have lost almost (if not all) of their innocence due to what they have been through, are holding on to the dream of one day escaping their harsh realities in the dark and brutal streets of Medellín to a promised land that was taken away from their people. Their journey leads to nowhere, but a lot happens during their travels – reality and delirium are the critical factors to this beautifully told yet haunting portrayal of excluded humanity and seeking a place in the world.
Who are the five boys at the center of this story? Rá (Carlos Andres Castañeda), Culebro (Cristian David), Sere (Davinson Florez), Winny (Cristian Campaña), and Nano (Brahian Acevedo). The quintet has been the closest of friends for many years, even though there are occasions when they don’t trust each other in the least. They have gone through it all, which connects them – all abandoned by the cruelty of life and loss – going around their lives as if they were kings, albeit without a kingdom to rule. After receiving a letter from the national Land Restitution Agency, Rá and his closest mates embark on a journey to claim his late grandmother’s land in rural Nechi, Colombia. The boys might be picaresque in character portrayals, as they are troubled youngsters trying to fight for what’s theirs, no matter the means. These are character portraits we have seen in a wide variety of films. However, their performances are special because it is the actors’ first time on screen. The reactions and facial expressions are naturalistic, and their chemistry is top-notch – feeling as if they were brothers, a family who cannot be separated. As Rá says to the Land Restitution agent: “Nobody wants them, just like nobody wants me. We’re all alone out there.”
Apart from its heartbreaking finale, one of the scenes that sticks with you the most is when the boys encounter a house of five elderly ladies in the middle of nowhere. This scene is emotionally impactful because it is the only occasion when they are truly cared for; it is the only moment when someone actually nurtures them. Their innocence is almost gone by that time in the film, but in the short time they spend with those women, it feels like they are kids again. The world has dealt Rá and company a bad hand, hence appreciating (and holding for dear life) these couple of hours with them. When you look back at this moment once finishing the movie, it hurts even more because of one easy-to-miss detail… the single tear shed by one of the ladies. They know that what awaits the boys is filled with tragedy; they weep because they don’t know how to help Rá and the others. Some of the other stops and encounters in their expedition might not have the same emotional attachment as this one, but they make up a fascinating experience to endure. As emotions swing from yearning to hopelessness, Laura Mora Ortega captures the tragic beauty of longing and puerile barbarity.
The film might contain some of the trappings of a teen coming-of-age story, where a group of hot-headed teenagers thinks that the world owes them a gift because of all their suffering. Still, The Kings of the World separates itself quickly because of Laura Mora Ortega’s narrative approach. Mora Ortega tackles her film with a sense of magical realism, adjoining dream-like sequences that make their journey an even more tragic one. Nevertheless, she remains grounded when talking about the sad presence of the dark streets of Medellín. Beauty and cruelty are intertwined without ever feeling melodramatic or far from reality. Because of this blend within two different realms, Mora Ortega’s latest tends to feel like a ghost of some sort, where five lost souls wander around Colombia to get to a land that might set them free at last – long gone from the violence that plagues their daily living. Mora Ortega, alongside her team, manages to engage the viewer while its picture is bathed in hopelessness (the burden of existence by living exiled), which is quite an arduous task to do because it can feel repetitive or run for longer than it needs to. Some occasions do feel such that a handful of sequences could be cut in favor of contemplation or misdirection to its eventual ending. However, for almost the entirety of its runtime, The Kings of the World remains a stellar dark drama and companion piece to Laura Mora Ortega’s Killing Jesus (Matar a Jesús).
Grade: B+
