Mateo’s refusal to listen to his younger sister Emilia’s (Tamara Rocca) voicemail or return a phone call finds the 17-year-old drawn to their Aunt Ines’ (Ana Brun) remote, well-timbered lodge while en route to her brother’s unknown whereabouts. Mystery surrounds Mateo: Emilia’s appearance at his workplace gives his suspicious boss reason to question if she is a reporter. Her arrival in town coincides with both her sexual awakening and the recent appearance of a shape-shifting creature terrorizing the countryside. Despite the film's low budget, the locals could have been assigned something other to do than walk around at night waving flashlights. A little more humor might have helped. Claiming to know a real monster when she sees one, the local priest sprinkling holy water in the woods gave Ines an excuse to dust off her shotgun. The obligatory sex scenes try for the stylistic objectivity of Larry Clark minus the lecherous smirk, though Emilia and her lover do share a bad case of the giggles. In trying to be both coming-of-age picture and monster movie, Agustina San Martín’s debut feature twice comes up short. (2021) — Scott Marks