Southern District review

A bittersweet, allegorical reflection on upper-class Bolivian family life, almost entirely restricted to a house and garden within a well-heeled La Paz neighbourhood.

Writer/director Juan Carlos Valdivia immerses us in the everyday routines and relationships of glamorous divorcee Carola (Ninón del Castillo), her three kids and their longserving Aymara Indian butler (Pascual Loayza).

Despite his showy direction (an overload of rotating camera-pans and mirror images), Valdivia captures his characters’ bubble-like existence without neglecting the bigger social picture.