Bérénice Béjo in the revolutionary drama by César Díaz

The shadow of the decades-long civil war in Guatemala casts its shadow over Mexico 86an intimate political thriller about a family trying to stay together while war follows them abroad. Written and directed by César Díaz, whose film won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes in 2019. Our mothersalso deals with the deadly effects of the Guatemalan conflict. In this gripping, if somewhat monotonous, second feature film, Bérénice Béjo (The artist) as a left-wing activist who has to choose between revolution and motherhood.

According to press notes, Diaz based the story on his own childhood, and the way he portrays the hectic underground life that activists had to lead at the time, with a suitcase always packed so they could escape at any time, is clearly authentic. Less convincing are the lukewarm emotional atmosphere and the predictable chain of events, even if they lead to a rather moving finale that manages to take the rug out from under us.

If Our mothers was more of a contemplative narrative about the long-term traumatic aftermath of the war, Mexico 86 gets going right away and never really lets up. After a prologue set in Guatemala in 1976, which shows activist and new mother Maria (Béjo) witnessing her husband being murdered by government thugs in broad daylight, we jump 10 years into the future and find her undercover in Mexico City, wearing a wig, calling herself Julia, and working as an editor at a progressive newspaper.

Maria is far from home but still deeply involved in her struggle. She lives with fellow activist Miguel (Leonardo Ortizgris) and does her best to fight Guatemala’s military-backed – and U.S.-backed – dictatorship from afar. She also does her best to stay close to her 10-year-old son Marco (Matheo Labbé), who lives at home with Maria’s mother (Julieta Egurrola). When the two arrive in Mexico for a visit and Marco ends up staying, Maria finds herself in a difficult position: How can she be a good mother while simultaneously waging a secret war against a right-wing junta?

The dilemma is reminiscent of that in Sidney Lumet’s 1988 masterpiece Running on reservea similar story about family ties and left-wing revolutionaries, set two years after the events of that film. But while Lumet’s devastating coming-of-age story was a heavy blow to the heart, especially in her portrayal of a teenager trying to get out of the heavy shadow of his parents, Mexico 86 is overall less emotionally effective and works best during its few suspense sequences.

In one scene, Maria receives a secret dossier on the mass murders in Guatemala, just seconds before her contact is stabbed to death on a busy street. In another powerful scene, she flees her apartment with Miguel and Marco, leading to a chase with the secret police. When they get caught in a traffic jam, the chase turns into a shootout, with Maria at one point holding a gun to Marco’s head – a clear sign that she would rather sacrifice her own child than hand him over to the enemy.

There is a way out of all this, but it is a difficult one: Maria’s monitoring agent (played by Fermín Martínez from Narcos: Mexico) tells her that she can send Marco to a “hive” in Cuba, where he will grow up in relative safety with other children of the revolution. But the bond between mother and son seems to be growing stronger, despite some difficult moments, and Maria is not willing to give up on Marco or the larger fight.

Béjo, whose parents themselves fled the dictatorship in Argentina and settled in France, does a good job of portraying Maria’s push and pull between family and political involvement. The path her character takes can feel obvious at times, and Diaz’s script overall lacks depth, even though it is based on true events. Still, the director manages to deliver a powerful ending that puts the erased Marco front and center, even if it comes a little late.

The film’s title refers to the 1986 World Cup, which was held in Mexico and is only mentioned in passing. The larger backdrop to the story is the events in Guatemala during the dark years of its multiple dictatorships, including a genocide in the early 1980s that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Diaz certainly succeeds in conveying how deadly the conflict in his homeland really was, spreading to foreign lands and tearing loving families apart.