‘Sujo’ Movie Review [Sundance 2024]: A Sympathetic Drama of Inherited Dangers
Photo from the Sundance Institute
From Jeff Nelson
Writer/directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez explore inheritance in the form of reputation and consequences in Sujo. We can’t choose our parents, but there’s nothing that says that we need to grow into their shoes. This tense drama approaches its coming-of-age story among the haunting shadows of a parent’s mistakes.
A cartel gunman father is killed, leaving behind Sujo (Juan Jesús Varela), his 4-year-old son. However, the young boy is unable to escape the violence that surrounds him in the Mexican countryside. Sujo’s father had a reputation that follows his son over the years, as Sujo’s attempt at a normal life becomes increasingly impossible, as he strives to escape a dangerous destiny that could end in a similarly tragic end for him.
Rondero and Valadez’s drama immediately draws urgency to their story, putting a young Sujo in mortal danger in the wake of his father’s death. However, he’s far too young to entirely grasp the gravity of his situation, only having his aunt, Nemesia (Yadira Pérez), to rely on. She goes to extreme lengths to hide him from the cartel, as he develops a family of his own over the years. Even so, Sujo’s unable to escape his father’s legacy with serious threats that loom beneath the surface.
Sujo isn’t all darkness, introducing warmth in the form of the women who touch his life, seeing a future in him that vastly differs from the man his father was. However, only he is in control of his own destiny, forced to make decisions with potentially monumental consequences that impact all those around him. Some of these relationships could be further developed, particularly in the third-act shift that leaves some supporting characters with undeservingly incomplete conclusions.
The performances are strong across the board, all starting with the leading actor. Varela is stellar as Sujo, weaving threads of empathy into the character’s yearning desire to achieve his own destiny. He’s certainly one to watch. Pérez is solid as Nemesia, while Sandra Lorenzano introduces a strong sense of sincerity to the character of Susan, a teacher who sees the potential in Sujo.
Sujo is an effective coming-of-age story that interrogates an inherited destiny of violence, bolstered with a strong breakout lead performance from Varela. The voices that echo throughout the chapters of the title character’s journey could use a greater degree of richness, but Rondero and Valadez raise intriguing motifs that translate into an overall impactful feature film.
Rating: 3/5
Sujo played Sundance 2024 on January 19th, 2024.
