Told with chilling authenticity, It Would Be Night in Caracas / Aún es de Noche en Caracas follows a writer's desperate attempts to flee Venezuela during an economic collapse in 2017. It's a situation still occurring today, perhaps the most frightening aspect of the film.
Fueled by Nicolas Maduro's authoritarian regime, street demonstrations in Caracas erupted into violent confrontations with the military, insurgents, and secret paramilitary groups. Coupled with inflation and food shortages, it lead to a massive migration during which more than two million Venezuelans left the country.
Directed by Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás, the film follows Adelaida (Natalia Reyes), a writer, as a means into the story. She just lost her mother, a noted author. Violence has become so pervasive that it's a risk to drive her mother's casket to the cemetery. The undertaker there warns Adelaida that because of armed biker gangs, she needs to leave at once.
In the coming days, city streets become almost impassible. Trips to buy daily necessities are fraught with danger. In an extraordinary shot by dp Juan Pablo Ramírez, Adelaida finds herself trapped between opposing forces during a street riot, tear gas and Molotov cocktails exploding around her.
A female militia led by Mariscala (Sheila Monterola) commandeers Adelaida's apartment, forcing her to hide in a neighbor's flat for safety. Finding a corpse there, Adelaida decides to assume her identity in order to obtain an airplane ticket to Madrid.
She's joined by Santiago (Moisés Angola), brother to a close friend who disappeared after being arrested for demonstrating against the government. Gradually he reveals that he's been tortured into joining the paramilitary and betraying his colleagues.
If the script, written by the directors and based on a novel by Karina Sainz Borgo, feels a bit predetermined, the movie is anything but. Taking Adelaida's point-of-view is a brilliant move, bringing us face to face with deadly chaos.
Flashbacks show Adelaida's fiancé, a photojournalist played by Édgar Ramírez (also a producer on the film), who disappears on an assignment. With everything taken from her, Adelaida realizes that she too must leave Venezuela.
Her departure forces her to rely on potentially untrustworthy black market operatives. Adelaida later ascends a staircase to a passport office, the steps filled with citizens clutching papers, all trying to emigrate. It is a riveting shot.
It Would Be Night in Caracas arrives as countries around the globe face similar authoritarian crises. It's easy to see connections to the use of armed military forces in the US, for example. We can all learn from this movie.
The film enjoyed its international premiere at the Morelia International Film Festival. Read more about it at the festival's official site.