Film Review – Ema

Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain went Hollywood with his last feature, 2016’s “Jackie,” and it worked for him. Creating an emotional and illuminating portrait of Jackie Kennedy’s strange days before and after the assassination of her husband. It was powerful work from Larrain, who kept himself together while dealing with studios and the awards circuit. Returning to Chile, the director delivers “Ema,” which offers him an opportunity to delve into complete creative freedom once again, this time examining powers of self-destruction developing between two people who once believed they loved each other, but now deal in bitterness and pain. The material details an emotional war zone for all the characters, and it’s sold with a free-flowing sense of bodily movement and darkness. Larrain scores another career achievement with “Ema,” which offers a hypnotic but deeply unsettling viewing experience, remaining artful throughout. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com