A Ravaging Wind

Directed by Paula Hernández, A Ravaging Wind follows a travelling reverend (Alfredo Castro’s Pierson) as he and his daughter (Almudena González’s Leni) are forced to spend some time with a gruff mechanic (Sergi López’s Gringo) and his disfigured son (Joaquín Acebo’s Chango) after their car breaks down. Filmmaker Hernández, working from her and Leonel D’Agostino’s screenplay, delivers a slow-moving drama that generally sustains one’s interest, as the movie boasts (and benefits from) a quartet of solid, compelling performances – with, especially, González’s stirring work as the exceedingly sympathetic Lenianchoring the proceedings through its more sluggish stretches. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that the movie’s early stretch contains an undercurrent of palpable tension, as it’s fairly impossible to determine where all this is going.) And although the picture is never quite as riveting as Hernández has obviously intended, A Ravaging Wind, which ultimately comes off as a low-key coming-of-age story, is a solid-enough drama that succeeds most keenly as a showcase for four above-average performances.

**1/2 out of ****