Review: 'Totem' is a mostly heartfelt family drama that shines due to the actors in focus

Totem

After the mesmerising, The Chambermaid, actor-turned-director Lila Alves returns with another story that seems more personal than ever in the form of Totem. The juxtaposition that would be displayed if you put both these films side-by-side is just another indicator of how Alves wants to explore and tell stories that are varied and, at the same time, personal. With Totem, the space is cluttered, and the frames are tight as we follow the life of Tona, a talented young man who is dying of cancer and the span of about 24 hours when the rest of the family is getting together to celebrate his life and offer their love to him. But why is the film called 'Totem' and what is it that follows? Having had the chance to see the film at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023, here is what I thought about it-

From The Eye of a Little Girl

The idea of calling the film 'Totem' can be interpreted as anything ranging from being the object of significance or just a metaphor for how one person's life-to-death journey is acting as a totem to the other family members. You can have your own take on it, but what the film does brilliantly is show the lens from that of a little girl, Sol (Tona's daughter). After giggling in a public restroom to feeling the sadness of her dying father to trying to make him laugh and feel better and feel dismayed again, the film packs a punch in trying to have us see the occurrences while witnessing a large family trying to make the most of it.

There is chatter, fights, arguments, love - everything you would expect any normal family to have, but the overarching sense of sorrow takes over, knowing that amid all this laughter resides the fact that Tona won't be able to make it when it comes to his life and might not be able to make it for this party as well.

The Precision, Decision To Work With Non-Actors & Clarity

Even though the film spans just over 95 minutes, it feels longer, but not entirely in a good way. Towards the latter half, once Tona is down with everyone, the build-up and introductory scenes for the rest of the family members lose focus and relevancy. To Alves' credit, that is brought back to focus when you see a couple of these members interacting with Tona and others. It also helps with the decision of Alves to mostly work with non-actors, which allows them a chance to improvise and be raw and naked in front of the camera. This move an horribly wrong, but Alves makes sure it doesn't with what seems to have been a series of countless rehearsals and still leaves room to change things as and when.

Alves does seem to lose some direction once the ongoing matter is explored enough but ends with a poignant frame of just how the film started - the daughter, Sol. Each and every actor, including little kids, is spot-on with their performances and makes sure that this congested space of having so many people around never feels boring or monotonous with the treatment.

The Verdict

Totem is a mostly heartfelt family drama that shines most due to the actors in focus and the tool of adopting to see the happenings from the eye of a little girl and, furthermore, us. A solid second film for Alves as a director, it establishes her even more than it did earlier.

Rating - *** (3/5)