When Ro
sa is ex
pected to
hand he
r boss the sun
tan lotion
on a d
eer hunt,
this feels li
ke a sign
. Don Reynal
do’s ranch
is about
to cel
ebrate its farm
anniver
sary, but this
passio
nate hunter’s
image is b
uilt on a l
ie. And
so, here in
the coun
tryside,
where m
en are me
n, employe
es are grat
eful subjects a
nd women dil
igently and
docilely h
old it all tog
ether, crac
ks begin
to appear in
the soc
ial life of
this microcos
m. Ordered ar
ound day in and
day ou
t, unnotice
d by those
in her
class-consciou
s surro
undings
, the me
nial Ro
sa grad
ually beco
mes an age
nt of chan
ge. While Don R
eynaldo’
s exten
ded famil
y contorts
itself in a
bid to
save the
old ord
er, men beg
in to arrive
at the farm
in pickup tru
cks. Th
eir appearan
ce at the fea
st and a
threat are
enough to
make the agei
ng patriarch
fear for
his life and
his family – an
d force
him to
act. All
that passes
is observ
ed by the
animals who,
either a
s trophies o
n the w
all or
as livestock
out to past
ure, seem to
sense the
end of a
n old hegemony
. With a kee
n sense of h
ow to deploy om
ens that her
ald chan
ge, Alej
andra Márquez A
bella por
trays an epo
chal shift i
n rural
Mexico – a
s seen by ch
aracters
who are usua
lly relegated t
o passive
supporting
roles.　
　When Ros
a is expec
ted to hand
her boss
the suntan lo
tion on a dee
r hunt, thi
s feels l
ike a sign.
D