Spanish with English subtitles

Rating: PG

In Clara Picasso’s fascinating film, a young intern is hired as a nighttime bellboy. Slowly, his training expands from learning about the hotel to understanding human behavior, love and seduction.

Under the guidance of his mentor, a hotel receptionist, the intern leaves his post at the front door to examine a mysterious occurrence. Picasso’s camera attentively captures the events that take place inside the hotel corridors while peeking behind closed doors to observe the staff living in its own universe. No names are given to any of the characters, nor to the hotel, but each character appears to be playing a role required of them by society.

As the film progresses, not everything is what it seems. Picasso has created a fluid film that cleverly uses a Buenos Aires hotel setting as a springboard to examine wider issues, such as male-female power games and the thin boundary that exists between private and public life.

SG