Kinda weird to cast your own children into this kind of film, though for young Fenix, I can’t say it would be easy to cast any child at all.
What it's about
After escaping from the sanitarium, former circus artist Fenix reunites with his armless mother, becoming her arms to enact murder and revenge.
The take
With an acrobat in a sanitarium, elephant trunks spouting blood, and a religious cult whose patron saint is a rape victim, Santa Sangre isn’t going to be an easy watch, especially with the avant-garde direction of the iconic Alejandro Jodorowsky. It’s tough to watch the explicit scenes, both of Fenix’s childhood circus reality and his adult hallucinations, with the hallucinations visually recalling his childhood trauma. But through these terrifying, freaky images, Jodorowsky takes his own memories and crafts it into a twisted, but deeply personal psychosexual nightmare, confronting the exploitative nature of faith and family through various circus acts. Santa Sangre is one of its kind.
What stands out
When a film is practically named Holy Blood, it’s no surprise that it will be bloody. Santa Sangre has a lot of gory, violent, downright disturbing scenes that’s just part and parcel of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s style. View at your own risk.
Comments
Add a comment
Your name
Your comment
UP NEXT
UP NEXT
UP NEXT
More like this in
Fruitvale Station (2013)
Compassionate filmmaking reconstructing a 24-hour police brutality story – with a stunning lead by Michael B. Jordan
9.7
The Wolf House (2018)
A bone-chilling fairy-tale, as mortifying as it is breathtaking
7.9
Holy Spider (2022)
A timely and terrifying noir that takes on systemic abuse and corruption in Iran
8.0
The Kings of the World (2022)
A knife-sharp account of five kids' journey to land restitution and self-determination
8.4
Elena Knows (2023)
A moving mother-daughter drama based on a Booker Prize shortlist novel
7.5
The Settlers (2023)
A surprising debut that evokes classic Westerns while expanding its perspective
7.3
Huesera: The Bone Woman (2023)
A well-crafted bone-breaking body horror inspired by the titular Mexican folk legend
7.6
A Cop Movie (2021)
An empathetic and impressively inventive look at the notoriously corrupt Mexican police force
7.5
I Don’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me (2023)
An eccentric Mexican crime thriller adaptation for the eccentric, satirical novel