Sujo is a heart-wrenching film that unfolds Josue’s tragic story in a one-of-a-kind way that is ruthless, absurd, and violent. The film’s opening tends to grab the audiences attention with a rugged horse framing a young innocent boy with the hope of pulling one of his leg. As the camera rotates, we see Josue staring blankly in the lens while being mudded to the title card: “Part 1: Josue ‘El Ocho.’”. To our surprise, the next scene is captured from the fogged-up windshield of Josue’s young son’s car. This focal shift allows us to see two characters Josue and Genaro together in one frame foreshadowing Sujo’s painful journey, which can be explained in a couple of succinct words – violence and betrayal. This indeed makes for an engrossing watch for the audience as the conflict in Josue’s mind translates stunningly well through the love he has for Sujo and when he ultimately betrays him for his gang.
Josue ends up killing Genaro, which now makes him a dead man walking on the cartel’s hitlist while waiting for Sujo to free them. Unsurprisingly, Sujo does become a victim too, of Josue’s actions. This insane cycle of violence in the pursuit to break free from one’s oppressive regime barely allows for a plausible resolution to be achieved, however, seamlessly transitions the audience into the life of Josue. The cinematic climax feels unreal, it’s almost impossible to believe that Rondero and Valadez never once captured Josue’s demise and never zoomed in on his persona, yet the magnanimity of the film falls into place, truthfully adding depth and meaning to it.
Josue’s ghost walks through the thorn bushes outside Nemesia’s secluded house, Barbudo (Yadira Pérez) somehow appears out of thin air and states Jessica mouthed off to him. As a result, Sujo’s aunt is sure that Josue is dead. Josue’s brutal behavior horrifies her even today, which is why she is not going to mourn him. However, she is sure that Sujo is in grave danger. Together with the boy’s other aunt, Rosalía (Karla Garrido), they agree with the leader of the cartel. Sujo will live with Nemesia, on the condition that he will never set foot in the town.
Sujo is split into four parts, each part dealing with a different important person in Sujo’s life, and takes place in Michoacán, which is a small rural village. The section of the film that is the furthest removed from the plot: “Part II: Nemesia” is that section where Sujo is raised by his aunts and they give him his father’s car. Starting from the Tough DP shot of Ximena Amann of the Rough terrain, it is easy to imagine the struggle that life in the place would be. Dark shapes and dark edges only enhance the feeling of despair that hangs over Sujo’s fragile existence. After reviving Josue’s car that was left behind, Sujo and his cousins turn into criminals in the third episode titled “Part II: Jai and Jeremy.”
While ‘Sujo’ is not exactly what you would refer to as a horror movie, the horrors it portrays are very real and are suffocatingly always there.
There are also times when these specters do not solely exist physically, but rather as memories or souls intertwined with the memories of the characters. On the other hand, Manu’s father has never really died, he is pigeonholed into the local neighborhood where he is considered to be nothing more than a traitor to the gang. His father figure, unfortunately, has never made it to Sujo’s back. This is the reason, and nemesis so does the Sujo. Following Josue’s disheveled houses, his disheveled brick screens Sujo and his cousins get addicted to the mode operandi of the cartel. Sujo is swift and agile enough to comprehend but to reach his goal and build some legacy which modes, ”I existed,” getting wealthy by being mules for the shooting cartel seems like the only option.
Still, it’s a journey through the past that Sujo did not expect to happen and is emotionally disturbing in such a way that he is tested in his loyalty towards his nationalism, his family, and his mentor.” Sujo” shares plenty of themes with Valadez’s “Identifying Features” which was also co-written Rondero. In “Identifying Features”. It is a mother who, in the Mexican countryside, tries to find her son who crossed the border into America. In ‘Sujo’ we get to see a hero’s helplessness to escape the cycles of poverty and violence but there is a slightly bigger pinch of feeling of hope. Valadez and Rondero seemed to have built a rich and dynamic script containing fragility and residual trauma that they are characters having to struggle with while still being able to hold on to some optimism. That delicate optimism was already embedded in Valadez and Rondero’s multi-layered script. Varela plays as Sujo but also managed to embody that astute in his acting. Valera’s eyes are too sensitive to remain closed to the surroundings, his posture hunched and his indifference must be enticing to some. It reveals a child who learns to camouflage for self-protection while also manifesting an unblemished inner flame about all that they could be. He is situated in an in-between and if someone sees the spark underneath his eyes flicker, he might be able to reach a far and out place. This is also reflected in his name which always speaks of change.
In that sequence, everyone is wondering what does his name imply, as it alludes to a time frame which has no destination set in advance.
In what appears to be the greatest last-ever scene of any film for the year and at which the film’s interests in ‘nature v. nurture’ foreground and its nondeliberate goodness of each person at the beginning of life is well aware the directors pick up from the very first episode. “You are so beautiful that everything else fades,” Josue, now a boy, explains to the horse. Which can be easily said in response to Valadez and Rondero’s character study, so piercing and so great that it is beyond this world.
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