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Totem
Directed by
Lila Avilés
Not Rated
2023
1h 35m
Drama
,
Comedy
,
and more
7.0
97%
75%
Add to Watchlist
Seven-year-old Sol is spending the day at her grandfather's home, for a surprise party for Sol's father, Tonatiuh. As daylight fades, Sol comes to understand that her world is about to change dramatically.
More
Where to Watch Totem
Kanopy
Free
Criterion Channel
Subscription
Amazon Video
Rent $5.39
Buy $14.99
+2 more
Cast of Totem
Naíma Sentíes
Sol
Montserrat Marañon
Nuri
Marisol Gasé
Alejandra
Saori Gurza
Esther
Mateo García Elizondo
Tonatiuh
Teresa Sánchez
Cruz
Iazua Larios
Lucía
Alberto Amador
Roberto
Juan Francisco Maldonado
Napo
Marisela Villaruel
Lúdica
Galia Mayer
Isa
Lukas Urkijo
Chavita
José Manuel Poncelis
Tío Octavio
Alioth Gutiérrez
Tía Aurora
Rodrigo Lamas
Arielito
Abel Sánchez
Kayú
Pepe Aguilar
Iván
Georgina Tábora
Tía Claudia
Zuadd Atala
Ruth
Michelle Menéndez
Lulú
Daniel Primo
Shine
Mariana Villegas
Julia
Alfonso Rodríguez
Poncho
Francisco Pita
Wiwis
Sylvia Littel
Tía Coral
Violeta Santiago
Sra. Zepeda
Ricardo García
Sr. Zepeda
Ana Ortíz
Ana
Miguel Vassallo
Vasallo
Omar Guzmán
Recolector de Arte
Lila Avilés
Director / Writer
José Tamez
Producer
Siobhan Flynn
Producer
Tatiana Graullera
Producer
Louise Riousse
Producer
Totem Ratings & Reviews
Seattle Times
Moira MacDonald
It's difficult to make this sort of film, in which nothing of great dramatic import happens on screen, but Avilés has an ace up her sleeve: Sentíes, a first-time actor who carries the movie on her quietly expressive face.
Los Angeles Times
Sergio Burstein
Confirms Avilés as a great creator of realistic situations while not having to resort to artifice to move the viewer. [Full review in Spanish]
San Jose Mercury News
Randy Myers
Tótem is life-affirming.
San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Strauss
There's never a doubt that Avilés and her cast are tuned in to what matters, even when characters prioritize other concerns.
TIME Magazine
Stephanie Zacharek
Avilés shows family life as a kind of net, contracting and expanding according to the whims and needs of the people caught up in it.
Los Angeles Times
Justin Chang
This is a movie about a celebration astride the abyss, and, as it continues, it takes on the eerie power of a séance.
Rolling Stone
David Fear
Tótem is one of those films about death that overflows with life, and it's a testament to filmmaker Lila Avilés that this gentle drama never collapses under its own weight or lets sorrow fully take the wheel.
IndieWire
David Opie
Regardless of how it fares in the American awards season, "Tótem" cements Avilés as a new pioneer for Mexican cinema whose potential could one day rival or even surpass the Cuarón's and Del Toro's of this world.
Associated Press
Jake Coyle
The year is young, but you're unlikely to see a film as richly textured as Avilés' masterful child's-eye view of death and family. Part of the film's power is in how organically the movie unfolds, free of sentimentality or overemphasis.
AARP Movies for Grownups
Thelma Adams
Vibrant, rhythmic and unsentimental, Tótem proves the power of film to immerse the audience in an entire life and culture where the highly specific and universal merge, and move mightily
RogerEbert.com
Peyton Robinson
It is restrained, poignant, and the type of slice-of-life film that is absolutely precious to the portrayal of the human condition.
Wall Street Journal
Zachary Barnes
The result is both joyful and devastating, sometimes in such quick succession that it might seem manipulative. It ends up being closer to miraculous.
NPR
John Powers
Avilés moves from character to character with enormous delicacy, revealing gossamer threads of personal connection and, like a crack portraitist, catching faces at their most revealing.
New York Times
Manohla Dargis
There are worlds inside worlds in "Tótem," a soulful drama populated by an array of creatures, some with two legs and sad smiles, others with feathers, fur and shells.
The New Yorker
Anthony Lane
The surprising thing about this film, given its potential for devastation, is how funny it can be.
Slate
Dana Stevens
Avilés takes her time letting the audience get to know, and grow to care for, every odd, flawed, and flailing member of Sol's extended clan...
New York Magazine/Vulture
Alison Willmore
Without ever verging on cloying, it's a film about death that becomes a heartfelt celebration of life.
AWFJ.org
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
Tótem is a compassionate little wonder of a film.
Slant Magazine
Gregory Nussen
Tótem is a film of unexpected beauty, using its main character as a conduit for exploring the quandaries of a family navigating matters of love, heartbreak, class, innocence, and, perhaps most prominently, mortality.
The Playlist
Carlos Aguilar
Sublimely compassionate, cinematic observations on subjects for which words alone wouldn't suffice.
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