Burn the Bridges (2008)

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Responsibility and desire strain the boundaries of a familial relationship in this drama from first-time director Francisco Franco. Helena (Irene Azuela) and Sebastian (Angel Onesimo Nevarez) are a teenaged brother and sister who have been reunited at their home while looking after their ailing mother, Eugenia (Claudette Maille). Eugenia has been diagnosed with cancer and doesn't have long to live, and it has fallen to Helena and Sebastian to care for her in her last months, with Helena (who is older) spending her days with her mother while Sebastian goes to school and looks in on Eugenia in the evenings. Helena finds herself strongly attracted to Sebastian, but while he also has feelings for her, he's also drawn to men, most notably roughneck schoolmate Juan (Bernardo Benitez). As the reality of their mother's fate becomes clearer, Helena and Sebastian's confusion about love, mortality and family becomes more acute, and circumstances become even more muddled when they take in a border, Aurora (Jessica Segura), and Sebastian falls in with wealthy Ismael (Ramon Valdes). Quemar las naves (aka Burn The Bridges) received its American premiere at the 2008 Palm Springs Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi