The Virgin of the Quarry Lake

Q&A with Laura Casabé on Thursday, April 3 at 6:00pm (FLC) and Friday, April 4 at 8:30pm (MoMA)

It’s 2001 and the sun is hitting Argentina hard enough to cut power on the internet café from which Natalia (Dolores Oliverio) messages Diego, a local boy to whose looks and charm she’s entirely susceptible. The problem: her friend is also into him, Diego’s into an older woman, and his feelings toward Natalia never extend past friendship. From this no-win scenario director Laura Casabé extracts all the pleasures, anxieties, and frenzy of teenage life. Based on short stories from Mariana Enríquez’s acclaimed The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, The Virgin of the Quarry Lake should please coming-of-age enthusiasts with its nostalgia-inducing details, but most remarkable is Casabé’s skill for pivoting to horror—and some of the most startling violence in recent memory—like the flip of a switch. None of this would be possible without Oliverio, whose lead performance brings Natalia to life in full frightening capacity.