Jimena Ayala Movies
A spiritual journey takes a strange and disturbing turn in this drama from Mexican filmmaker Rodrigo Pla. In 1928, Mexico is in a state of political overthrow, with government forces reacting with savage violence against anyone they imagine may harbor revolutionary sympathies. After Elias (Mario Zaragoza) and his wife become parents of a baby boy, their attempt to travel into town to have the child baptized is mistaken for the advance of rebel troops, and soon their village is raised by military police. As Elias and his family run for their lives, he is visited by a vision of the Lord, who condemns him for putting his children and neighbors in harm's way, and Elias is convinced he must atone. Elias leads his family into the desert and he begins building a church, convinced this is the only way he can redeem his family in the eyes of God. But it soon becomes obvious Elias's children do not share his convictions, and the father's devotion begins to resemble madness. Desierto Adentro (aka The Desert Within) was an official selection at the 2008 Guadalajara Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mario Zaragoza, Diego Cataño, (more)
- 2007
Mexican helmer Sebastian Silva's Spanish-language feature Nonna's Trip marks one of the few recent dramas to tackle, head-on, the complications wrought by the mnemonic loss attached to senility. Ana Ofelia Murguia stars as Nonna, the grandmother of the title, whose hold on the past is rapidly slipping away from her. During her last days of cognizance, she reaches out for one last, desperate hold on the golden memories that she cherishes: a trip to Italy, and a visit to her late husband's place-of-birth on that peninsula. Together with the members of her immediate family, the Todaros, Nonna indeed embarks on such a voyage, in search of relics from the past - a journey replete with joyous, occasionally surprising discoveries and radiant with the bonds of togetherness, as the elderly woman's self-awareness lingers tentatively. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ana Ofelia Murguia, Veronica Langer, (more)
The first feature film from director Simon Bross, the drama Bad Habits shows how a person's approach to food greatly affects one's life. Jimena Ayala plays a nun named Matilde who believes that eating next to nothing will help God stop the suffering of others. She trains pudgy, young Linda (Elisa Vicedo) for her first communion. Linda's mother is an emaciated exercise addict who frets over her daughter's shape. Linda's father, Gustavo, is a libertine who enjoys food as well as a healthy sex life with a mistress. Gustavo, an architect, must figure out why the pipes of a local school are leaking under the strain of a seemingly ceaseless rainstorm. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimena Ayala, Elena de Haro, (more)
- 2006
A detective investigating a brutal rape and murder is drawn into the life of a suicidal woman whose husband he suspects of committing the heinous crime in director Antonio Chavarrías' tense psychological thriller. Depressed and suicidal at the end of a raucous street party, Celia attempts to take her own life by lying on the railroad tracks. When the body of a young rape victim is discovered not too far from the site where Celia attempted suicide, police inspector Miguel Ángel pays a visit to Celia and her husband, Agustín, in hopes that something they saw that night may lead to the identification of the killer. Later, when clues lead Ángel to Celia's sisters, Carmen and Ángela, the detective finally gains enough evidence to arrest Ángela's former boyfriend Pedro in connection with the crime. But something still isn't right, and as Ángel strikes up an amiable friendship with Carmen's ex-husband Jaime, he soon begins to suspect that it may in fact be Agustín who is the true killer. His judgment clouded at seeing his own mental instability reflected in the emotionally shattered Celia, Ángel soon begins to discover that beneath the suicidal girl's benign and peaceful existence there lies a horrifying, and potentially deadly, secret. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Najwa Nimri, Luis Tosar, (more)
- 2002
Adapted by writer/director Fernando Sariñana from the stories by Juan Madrid, Ciudades Oscuras (Dark Cities) tells a story of interwoven lives in the seedy underbelly of Mexico City. The several different story lines concern hooker Lola (Dolores Heredia); her drug addict son Fede (Diego Luna); her friend Zeze (Zaide Silvia Gutierrez); Zeze's daughter Susana (Jimena Ayala); and junkie Vicente (Roberto Sosa). Also on the scene are two corrupt cops (Alejandro Tommasi and Jesus Ochoa) and one good cop (Odiseo Bichir), while Chicken (Hector Suarez) and Casimiro (Alonso Echanove) each tell their separate stories to the same bartender (Demian Bichir). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alejandro Tommasi, Alonso Echanove, (more)
