Martel’s remarkably accomplished debut feature unfurls vivid, contrasting portraits of two branches of the same gnarled family tree—one locked in an inexorable decline and the other struggling to survive – both living near La Ciénaga, the town whose name stands as the film’s central metaphor. The bravura opening of the film releases a controlled rush of richly orchestrated sounds and sensorially evocative images— ice, aged flesh, thunder, blood—that immediately reveals the masterful control of mood and rhythm which Martel exerts throughout the film. Told in a distinctly observational mode of narrative, Martel’s film seems almost plotless, a wandering spotlight that focuses selectively upon the flawed and fragile characters depicted by its incredible ensemble cast, led by 1960s and 1970s matinee star Graciela Borges as the possessive, alcoholic matriarch.