La cocina

"A thrilling in-spirit adaptation of Arnold Wesker’s 1957 play (...) A chaotic symphony of nearly two dozen characters, this black-and-white indie confection (garnished with sparing touches of color) mixes biting social critique with stylistic bravura" 

"Even if the film ultimately strays too far into virtuosic theatricality, betraying its origins, 'La Cocina' is a gripping reflection on the dehumanizing grind of labor and the ways that its soul-crushing routines stifle hope" 

"[It] reinforces the thrilling talent of this singular filmmaker (...) It features American star Rooney Mara as well as a stunning, uninhibited, shoot-for-the-stars turn from Raul Briones. Here, he goes for broke" 

"While 'La Cocina' can’t always shake the polemical stiffness of its source material or the political chokehold of its modernized setting, the film’s agit-prop expressionism allows it to push beyond the boundaries of other stories like it" 

"The mishap is easy to slight when there is so much merit in the director’s grasp of the aches of displacement and the overly romantic yet very welcome idea of love as a balm able to tend to such wounds" 

"This constant striving for symbolic import sums up the issues of a maximalist drama that is full of drive, ideas and ambition, but charts no satisfying dramatic arc, and too often feels simply striden"