Laura (Del Carmen) is a young woman living by herself in an apartment in Mexico City, who is counting down the days until the 29th of February. She is clearly bored, lonely and in mourning. Through the day, she works a little, spies on her neighbours and exaggerates the extent of her social life to her family. By night, she heads out into the city and returns with strangers to sleep with in what appears to be an effort to quell her grief.
Set entirely, except for an introductory scene in a supermarket, in Laura’s flat, Aussie director Michael Rowe expertly conjures a pervading air of desperation, sadness and bittersweet humour. Del Carmen is amazing and gives a truly standout performance as a woman turning to increasingly dangerous sex as a release. Gustavo Sanchez Parra is also good as the lover Laura turns to in her darkest moments.
Leap Year keeps you guessing as to the true nature of Laura’s grief almost until the final scene and is a master class in subtly. Having won the Camera d’Or at Cannes (the award for an outstanding debut feature), Rowe and Del Carmen are sure to pick up much more well-deserved praise at the LFF. Whilst some may question the sexual politics of the film and the misogynistic sexual acts that Laura seems to desire, they would be overlooking the wonderful performances, minimalist script and taut direction. Make every effort to catch this.
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