Elza

The cast, consisting of mostly non-professional actors, deliver believable performances. There's an air of feminine energy throughout the film, bolstered by the picturesque scenery.

Bathed in the flamingo colors and Caribbean rhythms of its location, this deeply personal debut from the writer and director Mariette Monpierre develops with a lingering attention to sensation and sound.

Capitalizes on a vibrant tropical location and a cast of capable, but the narrative makes disconcerting leaps from the poignant to the distractingly soap-operatic.

Sometimes I feel like a fatherless child. Monpierre, the first Guadeloupe woman director, projects her personal journey searching for her absentee father on this emotionally unfocused drama. In effect diminishing how single mothers struggle and prevail.