Moscas (Flies): Eimbcke’s Tale of Loneliness, Community, and Cosmic Defenders

Loneliness is an universal experience that to some extent everyone has endured in some point of their life. Whether it be alone for a few days because your spouse is on a work trip or the recent lose of a loved one, one of the harshest feelings is being alone. The additional silence heightens ones awareness around them, making the bustling streets outside seem alive, the creaking of the floorboards echo across the hall, and in case of Olga’s apartment, the insesent buzzing of common housefly inturrupting her fortress of solitude. The talented Teresita Sánchez (The Chambermaid, Tótem) plays Olga, an elderly woman living in her apartment alone, isolated from the world around her. There’s remnants of a previous life where she shared a life with others but the opening ten minutes plays like a silent film with Olga’s only tenant is a fly interrupting her quiet routine of playing Sudoku online.

The fly isn’t the only unwanted pest Olga has to endure, as she quickly discovers Cristian (played by nine-year-old Bastián Escobar) has snuck into her spare bedroom after renting it out to his father Tulio (played by Hugo Ramirez) for some spare money. Olga reluctantly agrees to house the child for a few days as they await an update regarding his mother’s illness in the hospital across the street. Cristian, naive to the severeness of his mother’s illness, passes the time by wandering the busy streets of Mexico City placing stickers on signs and playing Cosmic Defenders Pro, an 8-bit arcade game outside a convenience store. Through the Space Invader inspired arcade game, Cristian and Olga bond over their newfound loneliness. Despite Olga’s inability to change the past and Cristian’s inability to help his mother, the two defend the galaxy from pixelated aliens.

Fernando Eimbcke’s directorial achievements have always been a highlight at the Toronto International Film Festival with Moscas (Flies) being his fourth film selected and arguably the most accessible. The black and white cinematography feels inspired by Roma (2018) with long shots of life in Mexico City and lighting ranging from excess light seeping into Olga’s empty apartment to the pitch blackness of the arcade screen. Maria Secco’s cinematography consistently separates the camera from the protagonists with barriers such as Olga’s apartment windows, a convenient store’s mirror, or most commonly, the reflection of the arcade machine.

Eimbcke’s central story is Cristian finding something and someone while processing the severity of his mother’s illness. Everyone has something that provides them comfort whether it be going to the gym, reading a book in bed, or of you’re a lunatic like myself: watching 30+ movies at a film festival. This source of comfort and more importantly the people that share that passion, is an escape from reality when we most need it. Olga finds her community within Cristian’s passion for Cosmic Defenders, accepting change and allowing the outside world into her empty apartment. Accepting that the beeps of an arcade game or the buzz of a fly, aren’t so bad after all.

Rating: 4/5