Hekate
**Seen at the 2022 Atlanta Film Festival.
Perhaps the most disarming thing about “Hekate” is how it starts leading us to think about one thing, only to take us in a completely different direction afterwards. All the while, what happens afterwards is a by-product of that opening, as we see Kira and Helena’s relationship seemingly change, but also start to be defined. It’s a fascinating piece of storytelling by director Nadia Benedicto, and I was into it.
The first thing we see is Kira (Julieta Brito) walking a dog. She’s having a hard time with it, and- when she gets to the owner’s house- the dog has bitten her. The owner, Juan (Federico Liss), invites her in to get it cleaned up, and soon after, she is having dinner with Juan and Helena (Sabrina Macchi), his girlfriend. Things get tense, and Juan ends up near-dead. Kira and Helena put him in the car, and they start driving. Where to? They aren’t completely sure, but we get the sense that they have known each other for some time.
The tension between Kira and Helena as they drive…somewhere…is fascinating to hang this narrative on, and that we don’t entirely follow what they’re doing, or why they’re doing it, makes it compelling. All the while, Benedicto creates an evocative mood with light and music that keeps us engaged in this story even when it does appear to meander. I don’t know that the film lands its punches completely by the end, when a ritual brings their story to a close, but the film kept me interested in the characters, and how they’re living, and how their relationship changes through the events of the film. It’s worth a watch.
