– New York Times Critic’s Pick –

Alexis Gambis’s intricately constructed drama about personal identity, family relationships, and unresolved trauma is an essential watch. 

Son of Monarchs follows Mendel (played by Tenoch Huerta, Sin Nombre, Days of Grace) an evolutionary biologist who many years ago, left Mexico for New York, so that he could study how a genetic engineering tool can alter the physical characteristics of butterflies. After discovering that his grandmother has passed away, Mendel travels to Mexico to attend her funeral in Michoacán, home to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. What is meant to be a two-day visit reconnects him with old friends and family as well as the ordeal that drove him away from the place he once called home.

During the winter, millions of monarch butterflies migrate to the forests of Michoacán and Mendel has been haunted by memories of his younger self observing the forest and its creatures with his older brother Simon. However,  scenes of the brothers in the present strongly indicate a critical event in their lives, that has created considerable resentment ever since, to their relationship. Mendel continues to be troubled by flashbacks of being orphaned alongside Simon, when their parents perished in a flood and it is clear that Simon feels that he was abandoned and Mendel finally confronts his brother about what really happened the night their parents disappeared, which has heart-rending consequences.

Tenoch Huerta delivers a commanding performance as Mendel, in this transformative and autobiographical drama by director Alexis Gambis, as Son of Monarchs viscerally captures the scientific marvel and splendor of the butterfly, which in turn creates a mythic parallel to Mendel’s primal fears. Mirroring the annual flight of the Monarch butterfly across the Americas, Son of Monarchs presents a different kind of immigration story and after a long absence, Mendel begins a personal journey which is both powerful and transformative.

Screened in English and Spanish with English subtitles.

Alexis Gambis  |  U.S.A./Mexico |  2021  |  97 minutes