- Release year: 2024
- Director: Yoel Morales.
- Producers: Cristian Mojica, Yoel Morales and Alexander Viola.
- Screenplay by: Cristian Mojica and Yoel Morales.
- Cinematography by: Alexander Viola.
Synopsis: a crack addict needs to get clean if he wants to marry the love of his life.
Shotgun Commentary: every parent’s worst nightmare.
Review
Bionico’s Bachata is a mockumentary that, much like drugs, begins as a fun psychodelic experience that quickly turns dangerous and dark as hell. Bionico (Manuel Raposo) is a crack addict in love with a girl in rehab. He wants to marry her but, in order to do that, he needs to get clean, as he promised her he was. This proves to be a lot harder than he anticipated.
Laughing at life
The film has a hilarious opening that hints at events to come. This detail is only known after a first watch, when the most quirky, fun moment of the film suddenly becomes an eerie omen. This combination of comedy and ghastly drama is the perfect genre to explore this narrative as crudely and realistically as possible. The mockumentary format letting us experience the whole story without actually putting its filmmakers in danger.
Whilst the main theme is addiction, from it one can derive plenty of others: childhood trauma, friendship, toxic relationships, the influence of your environment over you, etc. They are all connected to create any parent’s worst nightmare. In fact, despite being quite a humorous movie, it could be argued it’s the best deterrent for children to do drugs. Even better than talks by ex-addicts or advertisements, as its depictions of an addict’s life are completely unexaggerated, letting “reality” strike deep on its own.
Brain or environment?
As per usual, when one talks about drugs, one of the main questions is how far does their environment shape a person? Well, in Bionico’s case, a lot, and none of it for good. His attempts at detoxing are foiled by everyone around him constantly. His “best friend” is usually the guilty party in this case. Like many addicts, he puts himself first. He can’t accept that Bionico wants to be clean because of what that says about him in comparison, so he goes out of his way to make sure things stay the same.
Still, as horrible as this dynamic is, Bionico’s relationship with his beloved La Flaca (Ana Minier) proves to be way worse. Ever wondered what a toxic relationship looks like? You’ll find the epitome of the concept in this feature. Sticking to reality, it’s hard to tell who is worse for whom. The sexist society they live in make it hard to navigate any relationship healthily, but if you add hard drugs into the mix, that goal becomes impossible. One can only bear witness to the absolute mess that is Bionico’s life from afar, itching to help in some way, but knowing it is impossible to do so.
The perfect combo
The brilliance of this film lays exactly there. The piece is so real that you actually wonder if it is a documentary at all. For this, one has to thank some superb acting, and even better makeup and visual effects. In addition to the clever choice of making the film look raggedy, making great visual effects highly unexpected, thus convincing the audience of their veracity easier.
Complementing the visuals is a mostly upbeat soundtrack full of party themes, a composition that contrasts with lots of moments in the film, conveying how the characters are seeing life as a party even when anyone sober can see that their situation is anything but.
All in all, Bionico’s Bachata has the perfect tale for a mockumentary. It is hilarious and extremely unnerving at the same time, their accuracy a respectful representation of the horrors an addict faces every day, even if they manage to convince themselves that they are “living the life”. Acting, text and mise en scène come together in perfect harmony to give you this twisted nightmarish experience that laughs at tragedy and encourages you to seek other means of escape than drugs.
Advice to take from this movie:
- If your friends encourage you to take drugs while you’re trying to get clean, they’re not your friends. Find other people to be friends with.
- If you are trying to get clean, going back to the people you used to take drugs with might not be the best way.
- People don’t take drugs out of nowhere. Take care of your loved ones.
What’s your take? Have you watched Bionico’s Bachata? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀