When you have need to go into a hospital, most people in their right mind would expect one of two possible outcomes: firstly, you might walk out back out the door with some deeper clarity of your suspected ailments; or secondly, you might not come out at all, if circumstances are particularly grave. In Dolores Fonzi’s roistering legal drama Belén, we see a third option, that’s a little bit of a mix of the above, where you do come back out, but with little clarity of what went on, and also wearing handcuffs.
Belén is the codename for willowy young woman (Camila Pláate) who stumbled into an Argentinean hospital suffering from severe stomach cramps, and in the euphoric whirl of her visit, is suddenly being charged with aborting a foetus in the hospital toilets, which is presented to her in a cardboard box by on-site security. All of which is to say, the circumstances are extremely suspicious, and Belén’s court-appointed counsel seems entirely apathetic towards the matter of proving her client’s innocence.
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There’s a scam going on, and hotshot lawyer and women’s rights activist Soledad Deza (brassily played by director and co-writer Dolores Fonzi) decides to take Belén under her wing, seeing her as emblematic of a wider trend of medical malfeasance when it comes to gynaecological health. She’s initially stonewalled by the judiciary, in particular when it comes to obtaining pertinent medical records that would instantly prove Belén’s innocence (as well as underlining a broader conspiracy), but through her tenacity and empathy, she rallies a nation of women to her client’s noble cause.
As the description might suggest, this is a fairly conventional legal thriller in many ways, straying little from the customary dramatic beats of this beloved sub-genre. And yet, in all aspects, this is a superior version of this type of story, from the quality of its performances, its refusal to bow to easy sentiment, the lack of an obvious antagonist, and also the lively repartee between all the main protagonists (with even hints of Pedro Almodóvar influence in there). Fonzi doesn’t sugarcoat this tale, nor does she attempt to make it feel entirely like a piece of activist filmmaking that’s entirely serving a political cause (even if, in many aspects, it is). Yet through her canny pacing and shot choices, she elevates this material far above what might have been expected of it.