Film Review: CARMEN (2022): Natascha McElhone is Terrific in a Slight but Entertaining Little Film

Carmen Review

Carmen (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Valerie Buhagiar and starring Natascha McElhone, Michela Farrugia, Steven Love, Richard Clarkin, Andre Agius, Paul Portelli, Henry Zammit Cordina, Mikhail Basmadjian and Angie Balzan.

Natascha McElhone has a very juicy leading role in the new film, Carmen, about a timid woman who goes from being shy and afraid of life to being brave and outgoing by the movie’s conclusion. While the picture is leisurely paced, it is also a nicely themed character study of a woman coming to terms with her life through unforeseen circumstances. Directed by Valerie Buhagiar, Carmen is, nevertheless, a pleasant addition to McElhone’s impressive resume of strong female character roles.

Set in a small Maltese village, this film is about a woman who is pushing 50-years old named Carmen (McElhone). Her brother is the priest at a local church and Carmen pretty much just exists in the background as her brother Father Francis (Henry Zammit Cordina) gives the locals some hope and inspiration at the church. When Father Francis dies unexpectedly, Carmen is informed by the sister of the new priest coming in, Rita (Michela Farrugia), that it is time for Carmen to move on. It would be nice if Carmen could get on with her life but she is lost and has nowhere to go.

Carmen goes inside the confessional booth of the church and secretly gives some women in the town advice as they believe her to be the new priest in town. Carmen tells one of them to cook the same thing for her husband every day if she wants him to leave and stop demanding sex from her. A group of young kids also come into the church as well and Carmen offers them life-changing advice such as by telling a boy to replace the money he stole by paying it back double. When Carmen puts a note on the door of the church pretending to be the new priest, she tells the villagers that the church will be closed and only open for confession. Carmen will gladly provide the advice to those coming in for confession.

As Rita struggles with her relationship with Tonio (Andre Agius), she also struggles with caring much about Carmen in any way, shape or form. Rita seems to want Carmen out of the way but Carmen has other plans for herself. Carmen meets a local, handsome but younger man named Paulo (well played by Steven Love) who she sells some of the church’s stuff to. Let’s not mention that Carmen takes money from the poor box occasionally to take care of herself. But, she’s helping villagers through her advice. Some of these villagers she helps over stuff the poor box with this money so she’s not doing anything wrong. Is she?

The plot has a few surprises that it unveils as to why Carmen has been isolated as long as she has. She once had a relationship with an Arab man named Ahmad and the story line will soon tell us what happened there with that particular relationship. Also, Carmen really likes Paulo but he seems to have a girlfriend so she ends up on the boat of a man named Tom (Richard Clarkin) who may have less than noble intentions for Carmen.

Carmen is a story of a woman who is finally finding out ways to embrace the everyday things about life which make it wonderful to behold. At times, especially early in the movie, it seems Carmen is just going through the motions and not really enjoying her life. Through McElhone’s performance, we get to understand Carmen as a character who may be a bit less than perfect when we meet her but has a lot of passion which has gone unfulfilled throughout her life. Could she finally get a second shot at happiness? See the movie to find out.

This film has some flaws. There are too many plot conveniences that make it easy for Carmen to pose as the new priest at the church. However, McElhone makes the character she plays interesting enough that the audience will follow her despite any implausibility that certain elements of the plot may have. Plus, McElhone and Love share some intriguing scenes together as their characters begin to form a strong bond.

While Carmen seems to be a very slight movie on the surface, it also makes one realize that there are always second chances in life and, as a result, the movie emerges as one that has a lot of important messages hidden underneath its simplistic story line. It’s a film directed with a lot of heart by Buhagiar which makes it worthwhile viewing. McElhone’s nuanced performance here is also among her best leading roles to date.

Rating: 7/10

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