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In Her Place

Farhad Dalal Founder
By-
Farhad Dalal
Rating
3.5 Star popcorn reviewss

Introduction

In an early scene in the Spanish film In Her Place, Chile’s Official Submission to the Oscars of 2025, we are privy to the protagonist who is tasked with a chore to interrupt an ongoing meeting featuring the judge at a local club. Yet when she arrives, the board outside the club reads ‘Women And Salesmen Not Allowed’. This single sign reveals a lot about the era of the 1950s with the drama being set in Chile, while also allowing you moments to ponder on – has anything changed even in 2024? The oppression of women has been on the rise ever since and hence, the issue subjected to here is more universal. Yet, the drama here is centered around an actual crime that took place in 1955, even while using it as a medium for escapism and liberty on the part of the protagonist. And hence, the twin characters – the protagonist Mercedes (Elisa Zulueta) and the perpetrator Maria (Francisca Lewin) could be termed as an alter ego of each other, one representing oppression, and the other liberty while severely being connected by the shackles of patriarchy. But when it does come to Mercedes, the gaze here is also aspirational in many ways.

Story & Screenplay

The premise of the film In Her Place follows the story of Mercedes who oddly develops an affinity for the perpretator Maria, a novelist who had shot a man five times at a tea room in a hotel while later being arrested given that there were eye-witnesses on offer too. But the affinity angle is an interesting zone that the drama taps in, for which one requires a closer look at the character of Mercedes and the society that she finds herself in. There are a few details provided to the viewers about the character of Mercedes that offers a few hints. Mercedes is initially shown to be confined to her home being married to her husband who runs a makeshift phonebooth for the newly wed. This is odd given that Mercedes has a strong passion for photography, something that she is quite good at but instead is forced to work as a secretary to the judge, a righteous man alright but holding a position that could so easily have been held by a woman. The patriarchal affects of the society are clearly highlighted in its opening act wherein you see Mercedes serving food to her husband and her two grown up sons who happily munch away while being ignorant of the one serving them, and only after they are done does Mercedes get a chance to quietly enjoy her dinner.

What starts off as a true crime drama, mostly unfolds through the gaze of Mercedes, a woman who is passively oppressed by the society with virtually no forms of escapism. And hence, her chore of fetching clothes of Maria from her apartment soon transforming into an opportunity of escapism for her. As a result, you silently see enjoying her time in the apartment doing everything that she always wanted to do – a leisurely bath, a cleaning exercize and watering the plants. What this form of escapism does is also change the image of Maria wherein it no longer mattered to her on why she pumped five bullets in a man. This, even as the pending court-case offers the eye-witnesses a podium who label the perpetrator as an opportunist woman as per their own assumptions and discretion.

The proceedings are a slow-burn even as the drama progresses through the gaze of Mercedes who starts developing a sense of empathy for not only Maria but some other women that she stumbles along the way. It is almost a reflective journey or a sense of realisation for Mercedes on the state of women in the country, all of whom might have been subjected to oppression. In a scene, you see her talking to another woman who had killed her son-in-law because of his abusive nature towards her daughter who was also pregnant. On being asked about any regrets, she said that there were none, and that her daughter is mentally free while she lives in a state of mental liberation. And hence, liberation that was materialistic for Mercedes was presented in a new form to her, something that was more mental.

Along the way, the viewers are slowly distanced away from the impending case, much like Mercedes who didn’t care on its outcome or the reasons around it. It is here that I did feel that there was a scope to flip the POV and get into the psyche of Maria too, and her perspective on freedom that you briefly get acquainted to. Sure, the crime that she had committed was wrong but the idea of having to change for a man wasn’t her outlook at all, having chosen liberty over oppression while murdering the patriarchy, both literally and figuratively. The entire sequence of events at the end does leave you with a burning question with traces of hope given the acquittal – on why all oppressed women (and literally all) did not kill atleast one man in their lifetime? Needless to say, the term ‘man’ here is symbolic of the prevalent patriarchy that we all are privy to even today. Perhaps, a shift in the POV would have added more weight to the drama but the screenplay is still quite well written, although it requires patience to sit through it while understanding the symbolisms along the way.

Dialogues, Music & Direction

The dialogues are conversational and they blend wonderfully well with the mood of the drama. The BGM is subtle and almost used a contrasting fodder to offer a whimsical approach to the proceedings that was a symbol of ridicule that patriarchy often had to offer in its defence. The cinematography comprises of frames that offer you a chance to peek into the psyche of the protagonist with tight close-ups or mid-shots, each of them that tell a tale of their own. The editing is crisp and sharp while wonderfully complimenting the whimsical theme of the drama and retaining the essence of self discovery on the part of the protagonist. Director Maite Alberdi does a fabulous job in creating a drama that doubles up as a vessel of self-discovery while also acting as a mirror for the society that we live in today. She backs it with wonderful characters, each of whom who are conditioned to live a life as per the prevalent norms until there is a breakthrough. The direction nicely highlights the aspirational virtues of the protagonist thereby summing up a drama that features an excellent piece of direction.

Performances

The performances are excellent here. Pablo Macaya and Marcial Tagle represent two contrasting characters but both being a part of the prevalent patriarchy in some form or the other, and both of them manage to shine. Francisca Lewin as Maria is wonderfully understated and performs quite exceptionally here. There are moments of intimidation and eccentricity with respect to her character, and she wonderfully touches upon these virtues while never swaying away from its core. Elisa Zulueta as Mercedes is phenomenal here using her expressions and body language to great use. She had a range of emotions to play with in a character that had many layers to it, and she hardly misses a beat thereby delivering a towering performance that was subtly powerful and deeply moving.

Conclusion

Chile’s Official Submission to the Oscars of 2025, In Her Place is a leisurely marination of escapism and freedom packaged in a whimsical crime drama that makes for a pretty solid watch. Available on Netflix.

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