As a member of the Latinx community, I grew up exposed to all the folktale my ancestors would tell their children. A haunting story that always stuck out to me was “La Llorona,” which made me scared to ever disobey my parents because I feared they would send her to come and take me away.
The legend of La Llorona has been around for generations; some know her story, some just know her name. Although I grew up with the tale, I never thought that my childhood nightmare would make it to the big screen. In April, The Curse of La Llorona debuted across the country. After sitting in the theater and watching my nightmare come to life, I was left glad yet confused. I was glad because our story was being told, and overall it was a well-done cinematic experience. I was confused because I expected the film to be scarier. I wanted my Mexican roots into it; I wanted to relive my childhood and fear of La Llorona. The film wasn’t shot in Mexico and the story didn’t revolve around a Mexican family, so perhaps that led me to not enjoy it as much.
Although The Curse of La Llorona was a great movie, I would have to rate it 7/10 because the history of this Mexican folklore didn’t scare us back to our childhood roots, it only scared us back to our seats, which isn’t the same level of fear I was hoping for.