Identifying Features

2020 ‘Sin señas particulares’ Directed by Fernanda Valadez

Magdalena, a mother in search of her missing son, meets Miguel, recently deported from the US and looking for his mother. Together, they make their way through the desolate and unforgiving militia-ridden landscapes south of the border.

Mercedes Hernández David Illescas Juan Jesús Varela

Alternative Titles

Skiriamieji zenklai, Без отличительных черт

drama

95 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Liam Trump ★★★★★

Identifying Features has a mature grasp of the themes it’s presenting. It takes its time in building the tone, with every story beat being used to great effect. There’s a natural progression to how everything plays out. And this is by far one of the best shot films of 2020. There a numerous instances of both reflection and fire with a precision that’s rarely seen. The wide shots feel wide and the close-ups feel intimate. It’s a visceral experience brought forth through great performances, writing, and cinematography.
Touching on both immigration and family takes a skilled filmmaker to make it work and Fernanda Valadez does just that. She brings out the emotional response to losing a loved one without making it overly sappy or indulgent. While the scale may be small on the surface, Identifying Features shows the greater weight and consequence of Magdalena’s experience.
READ THE FULL REVIEW ON FILM COMPANION
Review by Alonso Díaz de la Vega ★★★★

Muchas películas sobre situaciones como la migración y la violencia suelen saturar sus narrativas con tantos incidentes en la vida de un solo personaje que se vuelven inverosímiles. En el interés de abarcar y conmover, muchos cineastas pierden el piso y nos dan melodramas que terminan menospreciando temas y personajes en favor del efecto sentimental. Sin señas particulares, de Fernanda Valadez, coincide en abarcar mucho pero lo hace con una destreza magnífica: alrededor de la protagonista, una mujer que busca a su hijo que desapareció en su camino a los Estados Unidos, se aparecen personajes a cuyas narrativas Valadez les da el mismo peso que a la central. Su visión del dolor es horizontal y vasta pero sobre todo inmensamente…
Review by WraithApe ★★★★

Two boys, Rigo and Jesús, set off for the Mexican border and the promise of a better life. Two months pass and having had no word, the mothers of the boys approach the local police, fearing the worst. They're shown little sympathy and unceremoniously presented with a book of photos of dead bodies; forensic evidence from a myriad of unsolved cases. One is identified as Rigo but Jesús's mother receives no such cold comfort. Her son's body has apparently not been retrieved, but unwilling to accept that it must be one of the bodies found in a mass grave, burnt beyond recognition, she sets off on his trail, clinging to the desperate hope that he's still alive, out there somewhere.…
Review by Matt Neglia ★★★★

IDENTIFYING FEATURES is a quietly devastating & atmospheric directorial debut from Fernanda Valadez that showcases the horrors of crossing the Mexican boarder. Mercedes Hernández delivers an astonishing performance that chipped away at my soul. What a dark & stunning ending! Wow!
Review by diego andaluz 🍅 ★★★★

A-
Wow, what an incredible film. Apart from hitting close to home, the hypnotic direction aids in creating a dreamlike atmosphere that beautifully contrasts the harsh realities of immigration depicted on screen. It may have some slight pacing issues, but the sheer amount of impeccable craftsmanship on display here more than makes up for its flaws.
Go check this one out when it releases in virtual cinemas on 1/22!
Review by menyhara

some films leave me speechless and this one is no exception but by not expressing its marvel, i’d be doing a disservice to it and to fernanda valadez so i’ll try to find the words.
identifying features is quiet in sound but not in story or feeling. it is captivating, harrowing and devastating. its enormity becomes evident within the first few minutes, it becomes something larger than you, it grabs you and it never lets go or loosens its grip.
it is heartbreaking and extraordinarily crafted and clearly valadez is a genius so ,,,
Review by Joshua Arispe ★★★★

The horrifying reality of the Mexican border has been repeatedly documented on film. The gruesome war on drugs was portrayed in Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario, while the intense danger of cartel gangs was seen in the Mexican drama Sin Nombre. Several movies that follow this topic most commonly have either thriller elements or a gritty tone, but first time director Fernanda Valadez introduces a fresh new voice, possibly the most raw and genuine one yet.
Valadez, who also pens the screenplay, builds a drama that relies less on plot and more on its atmospheric and gloomy world, while packing the punch a story like this one needs. Identifying Features has a unique creative craft to it, resulting in a sincere and exceptional look at the ongoing border situation, where people are assaulted, kidnapped or sometimes murdered. Valadez uses strong technical and visual support to fuel its dramatic and emotional effect.
Read the rest on Loud and Clear Reviews
Review by Wouldst thou like To live deliciously? ★★★★★

Holy shit. This is why I love cinema. You can have a topic that’s been overdone to death and still make something like that feel fresh and different. This is one of those. And it’s one hell of a slow burn ride.
Identifying features or sin señas particulares is the directorial debut of Mexican director Fernanda Valadez about two missing teenage boys that go missing after crossing the border to the US. The same old American dream.. yes I know I’m Mexican and trust me sometimes I roll my eyes and think can y’all come up with something else? It’s always about this and drugs. But trust me this movie will prove you wrong like it did with me.
Fantastically…
Review by IndieWire ★★★★

Review by Kate Erbland
A week after Jesús (Juan Jesús Varela) announces his immigration dreams to his mother Magdalena (Mercedes Hernández) — a simple plan, consisting of alighting to Arizona with his best friend Rigo (Armando García), getting a job, and not much else — the young Mexican teenager is gone. Months later, the boys have yet to announce their arrival in the United States, nor have they returned to the landlocked state of Guanajuato. They, like so many before and likely after them, have simply gone missing, and in a country where such a tragedy is all too common, it falls on the people they’ve left behind to figure out what has happened to their beloved boys.
Fernanda Valadez’s…
Review by Jake ★★★★

2021 Films, Ranked
IDENTIFYING FEATURES 020521:
an agonizing film. it's a uniquely impressive vision despite treading familiar ground. hypnotic & absolutely gorgeous.
Review by Jeffrey Cheng Stewart ★★★★

Intensely and vividly rendered Mexican drama centering on grief and loss while rediscovering yourself after severe trauma. Magdelena (Mercedes Hernandez) has been informed that her son Jesus (Juan Jesús Varela) was killed while trying to cross the border into the US. Grief-stricken after returning from being asked to identify the body she runs into a recently deported boy Miguel (David Illescas) and takes him in as her own. While the two bond over their shared grief they also have to contend with the gang that Jesus may have been a part of that terrorizes the nearby border towns in attempts to recruit new blood into their ranks. Fernada Veledez's stunning and impressionist debut feature goes beyond the sensationalist headlines and political rhetoric to depict the real human stories affecting so many people and communities at the Méjico/US border. Using evocative imagery of fire and light in darkness to illuminate this pressing and powerful tale of survival and grief.
Review by nabeel ★★★★

“all i want is to find my son”
what a mesmerising and harrowing film. a slow burn but very touching because one can feel the emptiness that surrounds the protagonist. as bleak as it is uplifting, the plot is complex and has a lot of depth. most of the production is excellently done in a regional language featuring all its untranslated glory. the ending shot gave me goosebumps.

Recent reviews

Review by Peter Dragovich ★★★★

Very simple story told visually and artfully that genuinely surprised me in the end. Seems like a better-than-average message movie but slowly reveals itself to be something harsher and more hopeless. Outside of the harrowing stuff, really struck by the bureaucracy scenes like the book of bodies and the walk through the the deportation process.
Review by Mike LaPenta ★★★★

Two crossing stories about the tragedies that happen in border crossing and deportation. One story, a mother in search for truth about her missing son that attempted to cross the border. The other, a young man in search for a new home after a sudden deportation. I love the visualization of scattered memories and blurred imagination here. And there’s a moment that actually made me sit up out of my seat towards the end.
Review by menyhara

some films leave me speechless and this one is no exception but by not expressing its marvel, i’d be doing a disservice to it and to fernanda valadez so i’ll try to find the words.
identifying features is quiet in sound but not in story or feeling. it is captivating, harrowing and devastating. its enormity becomes evident within the first few minutes, it becomes something larger than you, it grabs you and it never lets go or loosens its grip.
it is heartbreaking and extraordinarily crafted and clearly valadez is a genius so ,,,
Review by Celuloide Latino

Dos mujeres encuadradas en un primer plano. Los rostros expresan una angustia compartida. Son Magdalena y Chuya, madres viviendo la impotencia de saber a sus hijos desaparecidos que se enfrentan con recelo a la infame carpeta de fotografías de cuerpos no identificados. Ahí, Chuya, abatida, reconoce el de su hijo.
Las desapariciones forzadas se han convertido en un tema recurrente dentro de la filmografía mexicana contemporánea; un ejemplo de ello son algunas de las películas que fueron nominadas al Ariel 2020. La ópera prima de la directora Fernanda Valadez no es la excepción; y, además, aborda otro de los temas que han preocupado a la sociedad mexicana por décadas: la migración al país vecino del norte.
¡Lee el texto completo!…
Review by EmoryWheel

"The concept of the movie, while simple, is brought to such surprising heights by strong directional decisions"-Rhett Hipp
Read the rest of his article in the link below:
emorywheel.com/fernanda-valadezs-identifying-features-is-a-subtle-emotional-odyssey/
Review by Peter Zingg ★★★½

A soft, quiet, painterly approach to violence and death. I appreciated the narrative approach of only introducing characters as they are needed to advance the story of Magdalena’s impossible search for her missing son in the borderlands.
Many of the daytime exterior scenes are overexposed in low chroma, similar to Chloe Zhao’s films, which were made in a similar locale. Interiors and night scenes are carefully lit, often with peripheral bokeh in the pastel colors of Mexican popular art. The candlelight and road movie aspects of the film remind me strongly of Walter Salles’ Central Station, which also paired an older woman with a young boy. Of course the situation here is much bleaker.
The plot develops a tremendous feeling…
Review by Roberto Lodom ★★★★

La película asombra por la subversión de lo poético.
Dentro de la tradición en el cine mexicano, de subrayar el sufrimiento y la crudeza de las agresiones, Valadez opta por transgredir dichas formas con expresiones minimalistas; lo poético juega un papel porque no se acostumbra emparentarse con este tipo de temáticas.
Texto completo aquí: celuloidelatino.com/2021/04/critica-2-sin-senas-particulares/
Review by JumpCut Online ★★★★

FULL REVIEW
Review by davidgbs ★★★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Mother looks for disappeared son; he's turned narco; well directed and acted. Ending a bit odd but powerful
Review by Felix ★★★½

Showing the journey of a mother desperately trying to find her son who disappeared on his way to the US-American border, Identifying Features manages to paint a realistic picture of the dangers of emigration through Northern Mexico's no man's land.
Every shot from beginning to end contains this incredible sadness that surrounds the protagonist who meets many people helping her on her journey, creating short warm moments, but ultimately not being able to help her out of her loneliness. Hearbreaking through and through.
Review by Oscar Balleza ★★★★

Simplemente la mejor película que vi en el 2020 que no necesita estar en los Óscar para darle un lugar en la cinematografía mexicana.
Review by chundo ★★★★½

Damn