Pregnancy is scary enough without an ancient creature coming after you, but for Valeria, the choice she makes has consequences.
Huesera: The Bone Woman
Thanks to Shudder and XYZ films, I had a chance to review this fabulous and disturbing Mexican horror film directed by Michelle Garza Cervera. There are plenty of nasty scares in Huesera: The Bone Woman, but actress Natalia Solian is up to the challenge of keeping the viewers sympathetic to her character. Natalia Solian’s Valeria is a young woman who is longing to have a baby with her husband Raul (Alfonso Dosal). Valeria even makes the trip to a religious site to beg the Blessed Virgin for help in getting pregnant. Although Raul believes Valeria will make a great mom, Valeria’s parents and sister are not so positive.
Valeria’s sister’s children are obnoxious and add to Valeria’s doubts that she is not cut out for motherhood, and if that isn’t enough, Valeria is being visited by a dangerous creature called Huesera, the bone cracker. Valeria’s loving aunt, the only one who understands Valeria, suggests that her pregnant niece visit a holistic exorcist.
Valeria prepares for the upcoming birth by building the crib and decorating the nursery, but there is no joy for Valeria. She constantly thinks about her former lover, Octavia (Mayra Batalla) and their youthful pledge of “No Domestication.” After bumping into her old lover, Valeria’s marriage becomes strained….and the visions of Huesera become more frightening, forcing Valeria to visit a group of witches.
Conclusion
This film showed, in a compassionate manner, that not every woman is cut out for motherhood. Although Huesera is scary enough, it is Valeria’s postpartum depression that leaves us shaking as we worry about her newborn. Valeria has to make a choice, but I was certainly not expecting the ending.
Huesera: The Bone Woman is a very scary film, and you can watch it on Shudder and AMC Plus.
