Movies: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed (2024) by Hernán Rosselli: A poetic, powerful portrait of grief, survival, and female resilience in Buenos Aires
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A family, a loss, and an underground empire reborn
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed (2024) — originally titled Algo viejo, algo nuevo, algo prestado — is an Argentinian drama written and directed by Hernán Rosselli. The film follows a working-class family in Buenos Aires that runs an illegal sports betting operation. When the patriarch dies, the women of the family take over, reshaping both the business and the power dynamics of their world.The story evolves into a gripping meditation on grief, survival, and shifting gender roles within a crumbling urban economy. Featuring performances by Javier Abril, Alejandra Cánepa, and Marcelo Barbosa, the film premiered in Argentina on December 5, 2024, after screening at Cannes 2024. With its blend of realism and quiet lyricism, it has earned 2 wins & 8 nominations, praised for its emotional depth, naturalistic tone, and feminist undercurrent.
Why to Recommend: Intimate, raw, and quietly revolutionary
A masterclass in realism: Hernán Rosselli’s direction immerses the audience in the textures of working-class Buenos Aires. His lens captures unpolished beauty — peeling walls, neon lights, and emotional exhaustion — with authenticity and compassion. The film feels lived-in, not performed.His use of non-professional actors and handheld camerawork evokes the vérité style of Lucrecia Martel and Ken Loach, giving every moment a documentary-like immediacy.
A story of women reclaiming control: The death of the father becomes the catalyst for transformation. The women who once operated in the shadows of the family business now lead it, blending toughness with tenderness. Rosselli portrays matriarchy not as empowerment fantasy but as survival necessity, grounded in labor, loyalty, and sacrifice.Their journey captures the strength of everyday women navigating a man’s world — with quiet courage and raw honesty.
Universal emotion, local soul: Beneath its crime-drama surface lies a deeply human exploration of love, loss, and adaptation. It’s not about violence or rebellion, but resilience — an ode to those who rebuild their lives from the ruins of tradition.
Where to watch: https://www.justwatch.com/fr/film/something-old-something-new-something-borrowed (France)
Link IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32128950/
Link Review: https://icsfilm.org/reviews/cannes-2024-review-something-old-something-new-something-borrowed-hernan-rosselli/
What is the Trend Followed: The rise of matriarchal neorealism
The film continues Latin America’s growing trend of socially conscious family dramas centered on female resilience and economic precarity.
Feminist neorealism: Following films like The Beasts and The Work of the Devil, it reflects the global shift toward narratives that place women at the center of morally complex, traditionally masculine spaces.
Post-patriarchal storytelling: The narrative symbolizes the transition from male-dominated authority to collective female agency — a reflection of changing social structures across Latin America.
Working-class authenticity: It shares DNA with the Argentine new wave (La Ciénaga, Paulina), emphasizing the intersections of family, labor, and survival under capitalism.
Slow cinema aesthetic: Long takes, quiet dialogue, and ambient soundscapes build emotional realism instead of traditional drama. The camera observes, never manipulates.
Economic undercurrents: Like Roma or The Florida Project, it uses domestic and economic struggle to expose systemic inequality — focusing on the human cost of financial survival.
Cross-genre blending: Though framed as a crime film, it subverts expectations by centering emotion, morality, and motherhood instead of violence.
Summary: The film reflects a powerful cinematic trend — the reclamation of the crime genre through female and working-class perspectives, turning survival into silent rebellion.
Director’s Vision: Turning realism into resistance
Human over heroic: Rosselli refuses to glorify crime or tragedy. His goal is empathy — portraying flawed, resilient people navigating impossible systems.
Political through the personal: The director transforms intimate domestic spaces into symbols of social resistance. Each kitchen, alley, and bar becomes a stage for quiet revolution.
Emotional minimalism: He uses silence and observation as narrative tools. Instead of speeches or melodrama, emotion emerges through routine, body language, and the weight of survival.
Cinematic honesty: Rosselli’s lens doesn’t beautify poverty or pain — it dignifies them, revealing humanity within hardship.
Themes: Grief, survival, and the birth of power
Matriarchy through necessity: The women take over a patriarchal structure not to prove strength, but to keep their lives afloat — a subtle revolution in itself.
Economic survival: The betting operation becomes a metaphor for Argentina’s fragile working class — survival depends on risk, luck, and endurance.
Family and inheritance: Beyond money, the film explores emotional inheritance — what values, habits, and silences we carry from one generation to the next.
Gender and control: It contrasts masculine ambition with feminine resilience, showing how care can be as powerful as dominance.
Key Success Factors: Quiet power and cultural resonance
Authentic performances: The ensemble cast, led by non-professional actors, delivers raw, lived-in performances that blur the line between fiction and reality.
Social relevance: Its portrayal of female leadership amid systemic neglect resonates across global audiences confronting similar social and gender divides.
Stylistic coherence: Natural lighting, static framing, and real urban locations build an aesthetic of truth — simple but profoundly affecting.
Critical acclaim: Its festival run solidified Rosselli’s reputation as one of Argentina’s most vital contemporary voices, blending social critique with cinematic poetry.
Awards & Nominations: Global recognition for grounded storytelling
The film has achieved 2 wins & 8 nominations total, including accolades at Cannes and Mar del Plata Film Festival for Best Screenplay and Best Director. Critics have celebrated its feminist realism and nuanced storytelling, calling it “a small film with a massive emotional footprint.” It stands as one of Argentina’s most acclaimed international releases of 2024.
Critics Reception: Subtle but stunning
Variety: “A moving, unhurried portrait of womanhood and work in the shadows — as political as it is intimate.”
The Hollywood Reporter: “Rosselli crafts a film of quiet power, capturing the strength of ordinary women with tenderness and truth.”
IndieWire: “A feminist neorealist gem — precise, empathetic, and devastatingly human.”
Cahiers du Cinéma: “Rosselli’s camera doesn’t just observe — it listens. Every silence in this film speaks volumes.”
Summary: Critics unanimously praise the film’s restraint and humanity. It’s hailed as a standout of contemporary Latin American cinema — understated yet emotionally monumental.
Reviews: Audiences call it hauntingly real
IMDb Users: Rated 6.3/10, viewers appreciated its realism and emotional nuance, though some found its pacing slow and meditative.
Letterboxd: Many call it “quietly revolutionary,” admiring its balance of social commentary and empathy.
Audience sentiment: Viewers highlight its authentic performances and the emotional depth of its matriarchal narrative, calling it “a film that whispers but stays in your bones.”
Summary: Audiences recognize its subtle brilliance — not a film of spectacle, but one that earns its emotion through honesty and restraint.
Movie Trend: Feminist realism meets underground economy
The film is part of the Latin American social-realist renaissance, where filmmakers use minimalist storytelling to explore the intersections of family, gender, and class. Like La Ciénaga and Roma, it turns domestic life into a lens for societal critique — showing that resistance often begins at the kitchen table.
Social Trend: Women reclaiming narrative power
The story mirrors a broader cultural movement across Latin America where women challenge patriarchal and economic boundaries. It resonates with real-world shifts in power, family structures, and representation — giving cinematic voice to those who live unseen yet shape survival from the shadows.
Final Verdict: Subtle, stirring, and socially profound
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed is a moving portrayal of loss and rebirth through the eyes of women who refuse to disappear. With Hernán Rosselli’s empathetic direction and lived-in performances, it redefines power not as dominance, but as endurance.Verdict: A beautifully restrained and emotionally resonant drama — a quiet revolution that reaffirms the power of women, work, and survival in the face of silence.