Belén

A miscarriage of justice is a truly abhorrent outcome where legal matters are involved. And so it’s particularly ironic and maddening when such a development is rooted in an actual miscarriage itself. Such was the case for 24-year-old Julieta Gomez (Camila Plaate), a woman of modest means from the conservative Tucumán region of Argentina in 2014. In this fact-based story, Julieta is rushed to the hospital with severe abdominal pain and excessive bleeding, unaware that she’s in the process of miscarrying (or even that she’s pregnant). However, while undergoing treatment, she’s falsely accused of having performed an illegal abortion on herself during a bathroom visit, a procedure she was clearly in no condition to carry out on her own at the time. With flimsy accusations and questionable proof against her, authorities arrest Julieta while she’s still lying in a hospital bed receiving care. She then spends the next two years incarcerated awaiting trial for her alleged crimes. And, when she’s finally brought into court, she’s saddled with inept counsel and the prejudice of a corrupt, agenda-driven judicial system more concerned with keeping women disempowered than meting out real justice. She’s subsequently and summarily handed an unjust, unfounded eight-year prison sentence that her new activist attorney, Soledad Deza (portrayed by writer-actor-director Dolores Fonzi), intends to appeal. To effectuate this goal, Deza ramps up an aggressive publicity campaign to win public support for her client in her quest to obtain a new hearing, one that garners national – and even international – attention for women’s rights in Argentina, particularly with regard to the right to choose. And, to safeguard Julieta’s identity from undue scrutiny, she’s given the pseudonym “Belén,” which translates to “Bethlehem,” an intentionally loaded term in a predominantly Catholic country like Argentina where conventional religious values hold considerable sway in shaping public policy and jurisprudence. Director Fonzi delivers a fairly inspiring and noble tale in her second feature outing, with fine performances from Plaate and in her own lead portrayal. However, the narrative treatment here is somewhat pedestrian, following a rather rote, formulaic and surprisingly predictable approach, even among viewers who might not know much about the story going in. The film thus ultimately plays very much like material one would find in a typical television drama or movie of the week. Moreover, many incidents leading up to the new hearing feel like they’ve been lifted largely intact from other courtroom-based sagas, such as “In the Name of the Father” (1993), “Conviction” (2010), “Bridge of Spies” (2015) and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (2020), despite differences in the particular circumstances from those stories. To be fair, “Belén” is by no means a bad film, but it doesn’t feel especially fresh or original, either. Considering the significant gains to have come from the diligent efforts of Deza and her peers, it would have been preferable to see this courageous team of advocates get a better, more uplifting picture than what has emerged out of an otherwise-somewhat underwhelming production.