Julio Diaz Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Lake George’ (2025), starring Hamid Antonio Castro, Rio Thake, Cindy Kimberly, Sheck Wes, Caroline Jayna Kempczynski and Mike Markoff

February 5, 2025

by Carla Hay

Hamid Antonio Castro in “Lake George” (Photo courtesy of This Is New York Pictures)

“Lake George” (2025)

Directed by Hamid Antonio Castro

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York state, the dramatic film “Lake George” features a racially diverse cast of characters (Latin, white, Asian and African American) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A fitness trainer and his recently paroled cousin lie, cheat and steal so that they can get $100,000 to pay for extortion from a prison gang threatening to kill the fitness trainer’s incarcerated father.

Culture Audience: “Lake George” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of crime thrillers, but the movie’s plot becomes too incoherent and badly staged to enjoy.

Rio Thake and Caroline Jayna Kempczynski in “Lake George” (Photo courtesy of This Is New York Pictures)

“Lake George” is a stylish-looking, low-budget crime thriller that turns into a mind-numbing mess. It’s supposed to be based on real experiences from writer/director/star Hamid Antonio Castro, but the plot is mishandled with too many unrealistic scenes. The acting is uneven, but the screenplay is by far the weakest link of the movie.

Castro makes his feature-film debut with “Lake George,” in which he plays a character of the same name. The movie takes place in New York City and in Lake George, New York. It’s unclear how much is fact and how much is fiction.

However, “Lake George” doesn’t make Castro look good as a person or as a filmmaker. The character he plays in the movie is a selfish traitor and not very smart. And the film has a lot of problems, such as plot holes and cringeworthy dialogue that veers between cliché and unrealistic.

Hamid, whose nickname is Psych, lives in New York City and works as a personal fitness trainer with wealthy clients. Psych has a reputation for being a tough trainer who gets great results. He’s well-known enough that Thrillist had a feature profile of him where the headline was a quote from Psych bragging that he gets $600,000 a year for “torturing” his clients.

Psych has this article proudly hanging on a wall in the apartment that he shares with his girlfriend Katherine (played by Cindy Kimberly), who finds out early on in the story that she’s pregnant. Katherine and Psych are both excited about becoming first-time parents. Psych has a criminal past that Katherine seems to know about, but she accepts it because Psych has seemingly turned his life around.

The couple’s domestic bliss is shattered when Psych gets a phone call from the prison where his drug dealer father Antonio (played by Antonio Castro), nicknamed Tony, is incarcerated. Tony tells Psych that a prison gang is threatening to kill Tony unless Psych can come up with $100,000 to pay off the gang in two days. (Hip-hop artist Sheck Wes has a small speaking role as one of the extortionists.) The prison gang has an outside accomplice named Juanito (played by Julio Diaz), who owns a bodega and is the contact person who’s supposed to receive the money.

Psych only has $25,000. And so, Psych enlists the help of his recently paroled younger cousin Raymond (played by Rio Thake), nicknamed Rame, which sets them on a crime spree to get the rest of the money. Psych and Rame, who have been close friends since childhood, have a complicated history because Rame went to prison for four years for a robbery that Rame and Psych committed but only Rame got caught and punished for it. Rame has now been paroled for this robbery.

A flashback shows what happened to cause Rame to get arrested. One night, Psych and Rame (both wearing Statue of Liberty masks and armed with guns) went inside an art gallery during an event. Psych and Rame pointed guns at people, stole two paintings, and then fled on foot.

Anyone watching this scene might immediately give it a side eye for how idiotic it looks. First, if you’re going to steal presumably valuable paintings, why risk doing it in front of a bunch of people during a gallery event when so many things could go wrong? Second, why flee on foot when the paintings could be hidden better in a vehicle that’s a faster getaway?

Don’t expect the movie to answer those questions. All this flashback scene proves is that the crime was very stupid and horribly planned. There’s a reason why a reality show called “America’s Dumbest Criminals” existed: There’s no shortage of people who could be on the show.

Psych and Rame are soon being hunted by police on the streets. It doesn’t take long for Rame to be caught (considering he was still carrying one of the stolen paintings), but Psych ditches the painting he had and manages to hide from the police while Psych is still outside. Obviously, Rame didn’t snitch on Psych, but the movie never explains why a police investigation couldn’t find out that Psych was the accomplice, when so many witnesses saw that there were two robbers.

Whatever the reason, Rame was the one who got punished for the crime and was sentenced to prison. Meanwhile, Psych went on with his life and “went straight” by starting his own personal fitness business. Psych expresses some guilt over letting Rame take all the blame for their crime, but he doesn’t seem to have much guilt about it, which tells you what kind of character Psych is.

Another flashback in the movie goes back to Psych’s childhood. The scene shows Psych at about 9 or 10 years old (played by Ibrahim Elouahabi) witnessing his father Tony get arrested for drug dealing. It’s later mentioned that Tony has spent so much time in prison, he was mostly an absentee father to Psych when Psych was growing up.

At first, Psych tries to legally get the remaining $75,000 that he needs. It just so happens that night, Psych has been invited to the 40th birthday party of a rich client named Damian (played by Mike Markoff), who is a hard-partying playboy. Psych brings Rame to this party.

The plan is for Psych to ask Damian to borrow the money. But things don’t turn out the way that Psych planned. The rest of the movie has some elements of slapstick comedy that don’t really fit the movie’s intended gritty tone.

One of the worst parts in the film is how Psych and Rame end up going on their misadventure with a flaky acquaintance named Carla (played by Caroline Jayna Kempczynski), who’s an annoying party girl. She calls Psych to ask for a ride, so he and Rame pick her up at a gas station. When Psych and Rame arrive at the gas station, they find out that Carla is in the middle of robbing the gas station with two male accomplices.

Carla called because she wanted to double-cross her robber cronies by ditching them, taking the money, and getting a ride on her own. And because Psych and Rame showed up during the robbery and left with Carla, now Psych and Rame are considered accomplices to this robbery. This robbery scene looks very fake and depends entirely on you believing that Carla knew that Psych and Rame would show up at the precise moment that she needed a getaway ride.

The movie is named “Lake George” because part of the crime spree involves Psych and Rame going to a remote house in the town of Lake George, New York. With Carla along for the ride, Psych and Rame travel by car to go to Lake George because they want to visit a guy named Amazing (played by Amir Kolenovic) in the quest to get the money that Psych needs. Things go wrong during this visit.

“Lake George” has all the visual elements to be better than what it turns out to be. The movie’s dialogue and scenarios become increasingly ridiculous, leading to a “twist” reveal and an underwhelming ending. In a pivotal scene where someone gets shot, one of the witness characters starts rapping a poem in response. Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds.

This movie has a problematic way of depicting women, who are either presented as sex partners or ditzes. Kimberly and the movie’s other women with speaking roles all wear low-cut tops, and the camera is placed to show leering closeups of their cleavage. Kimberly might as well be a blow-up doll because the movie makes her only purpose in the story to bring sex appeal.

Despite all the flaws and ludicrous scenes in “Lake George,” the movie has some assets. The cinematography by Guillermo Cameo is at its best when capturing the frenetic energy of a crime caper film. The music score by Kate Konn is also very good and creating the right moods for each scene. Konn has a small speaking role in the film as Kaeta, one of the guests at Damian’s party.

As for the principal cast members’ performances, Castro does an adequate job, but Thake gives the best performance, in terms of looking authentic. Thake has a magnetic and natural quality to his acting that makes many of the other cast members look like “trying too hard” amateurs. Unfortunately, one standout performance cannot save this movie from sinking into a cesspool of terribly staged scenes and questionable ideas.

The unimpressive ending of “Lake George” will make viewers wonder why writer/director/star Castro chose his alter ego to be so unlikable and what was the point of this movie. One particular character is blamed for everything, but this blame seems like a sleazy cop-out from people who were willing participants in the same crimes. And it makes “Lake George” look like a misguided film that was made as an excuse for morally bankrupt life choices.

This Is New York Pictures released “Lake George” in New York City for a limited engagement on January 31 and February 1, 2025.

Review: ‘La Llorona,’ starring María Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kenétic, Julio Díaz and María Telón

August 15, 2020

by Carla Hay

“La Llorona”

Directed by Jayro Bustamante

Spanish and Kaqchikel with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Guatemala, the horror film “La Llorona” has an all-Latino cast representing the wealthy and the working-class.

Culture Clash: A convicted war criminal and his family are haunted by the sins from his past.

Culture Audience: “La Llorona” will appeal to people who like horror films that have social commentary beyond the usual scares.

Sabrina De La Hoz in “La Llorana” (Photo courtesy of Shudder)

“La Llorona” (written and directed by Jayro Bustamante) goes where few horror movies have gone before, by taking a well-known folk story and giving it a new spin that’s a scathing commentary on human-rights violations committed during war. The movie should not be confused with the vastly inferior 2019 horror flick “The Curse of La Llorona,” a not-very-scary movie that got a lot of criticism for being a “whitewashed” Hollywood version of Hispanic folklore. Instead, “La Llorona” is much better than the average horror flick because it makes a bold statement about the aftermath of war and how the pain doesn’t end after the war is over.

The movie begins with a striking scene of several women gathered in a circle, with lit candles all around, and praying in a chanting manner asking an unknown entity: “Come back to us.” The next scene is of a group of men who are being told, “Remember, you are heroes, not victims.” They are also told that they should wear dark suits, as long as they’re not black suits, and they must never lower their heads.

What do these two groups of people have in common? It’s made clear later in the story, but most of the activity in the movie takes place in a wealthy family’s mansion that is experiencing a lot of emotional turmoil. The family patriarch is Enrique Monteverde (played by Julio Díaz), a former government army general in Guatemala’s civil war in the early 1980s, when General Efraín Ríos Montt’s totalitarian regime fought against insurgent armies (many of whom consisted of indigenous people) that wanted a more democratic rule.

Guatemala eventually made a new constitution allowing free and democratic elections in 1986. But the civil unrest in Guatemala resulted in thousands of people being tortured and killed, with indigenous people as the target of much of the government’s genocide. And decades later, Enrique is on trial for these war crimes that he is accused of committing in 1982 and 1983.

While he is awaiting trial, Enrique and his family have been living a semi-sequestered life in the mansion. His family members in the household are his wife Carmen (played by Margarita Kenétic); their daughter Natalia (played by Sabrina De La Hoz); and Natalia’s daughter Sara (played by Ayla-Elea Hurtado), who’s about 9 or 10 years old. Sara is aware that her grandfather Enrique is a controversial public figure, because she asks her mother Natalia, “Why do people say bad things about my grandpa?” When Natalia asks Sara where she heard these things, Sara tells her that it’s been mostly on the Internet.

One night, Enrique wakes up to the sound of someone taking a shower and breathing heavily in a nearby bathroom. When he goes in the bathroom to investigate, no one is there. The movie has many symbolic and literal references to water and drowning, in a nod to the La Llorona folklore, which is about a ghost woman who’s tormented by the memory of drowning her two young sons.

Is Enrique delusional or was he just dreaming? It’s clear that he has some mental anguish because he’s so freaked out by what he hears in the bathroom that he takes his gun with him. And when his wife Carmen (played by Margarita Kenétic) checks up on him in the bathroom to see what’s going on, he thinks she’s an intruder and he shoots at her and barely misses. The bullet instead hits the bathroom door frame.

The family’s chief maid Valeriana (played by María Telón) has also gone to see what all the ruckus is about. But Enrique, in a state of panic, grabs Valeriana and holds her as if she’s a hostage. During the chaos, Enrique and Carmen’s daughter Natalia runs into the room and sees what’s going on and calls out for the family’s trusted security employee Letona (played by Juan Pablo Olyslager), who manages to get the gun away from Enrique and calm things down.

This disturbing incident was witnessed by several of the live-in servants, who are all indigenous people. The next day, they band together with Valeriana to tell Carmen and Natalia that they want to quit. But Carmen and Natalia convince the servants to stay, by telling them that no other employers will treat them as well as they’ve been treated by the Monteverde family. This scene can be considered symbolic of Spanish colonialism in Guatemala, where indigenous people were kept subservient by Spanish invaders, who believed that they knew what was best for the native people.

It’s also the first real sign of the condescending attitude that Carmen and Natalia have toward people whom they considered “inferior” to them, especially if they are working-class and indigenous people. And it’s also the first indication of how Carmen and Natalia deny and enable Enrique’s bad behavior. Later in the story, it becomes apparent that Carmen is a lot worse than Natalia when it comes to the snobbery toward indigenous people and the covering up of Enrique’s crimes.

And the reason why Carmen has particular disdain for indigenous women is also revealed. (The reason why isn’t so surprising.) Carmen’s willingness to stay silent and cover up for her husband, in order to maintain her outwardly privileged lifestyle, is an attitude that is very common with the spouses of powerful men who are corrupt.

During the trial, people testify about the Guatemalan government army’s vicious torture and killings during the civil war in the early 1980s. One of the witnesses is a woman who testifies to being raped by government soldiers, who then murdered her family. Enrique’s attorney argues that Enrique never ordered the Guatemalan army to kill a specific race or religion. Enrique testifies that any actions he took were to help better establish a national identity.

Enrique is found guilty, and the verdict causes an eruption of chaos in and outside the courtroom. Enrique looks like he’s about to have a heart attack, so he is rushed to a hospital. A huge crowd outside celebrates the verdict. It’s a mob scene of protestors and media that follow the family back to their home. Letona advises that the family stay fully sequestered in their home until the situation dies down.

While Enrique is recuperating in a hospital, Natalia and Carmen have a private conversation at their home. Natalia starts to question Enrique’s mental stability and wonders if they should get him psychiatric help and possibly put him in a psychiatric institution, but Carmen is against the idea. Natalia is also disturbed by the testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses, because she believes them, and she wonders if her father participated in the atrocities that he was accused of ordering.

Carmen’s response is to tell Natalia that many of the women who claimed that they were raped were “whores” who offered themselves to the soldiers, and those who were raped were violated by lower-level soldiers. Carmen says that although Enrique was never a faithful husband, she implies that his military ranking was too high to be a common soldier raping people. Carmen then questions Natalia’s family loyalty by asking, “Which side are you on?” She also asks Natalia if she’s turning into a leftie Communist.

And when Enrique is released from the hospital, it’s another chaotic event with a large crowd of angry protestors surrounding the ambulance that takes Enrique home. It’s revealed later in the story that Enrique’s guilty verdict was overturned. Although he won’t be incarcerated for his crimes, his home has turned into another type of prison.

As the protestors are gathered outside the mansion, they shout angry statements during all hours of the day, but Carmen and Natalia appear to be stoic about all the mayhem. There’s a scene of them sunning themselves outside in their backyard (Natalia is meditating), as if they want to tune out all the uproar surrounding them. But things become dangerous, as the protests start to become violent, with objects being thrown at the house and through windows.

During all of this uproar, a young woman with big, haunting eyes suddenly appears in the crowd. She is let into the house by Valeriana. Her name is Alma (played by María Mercedes Coroy), who has come to work as a live-in maid for the Monteverde family. It isn’t explained why she is in now in the family’s life, but she knows Valeriana very well, so it’s implied that Valeriana is the one who helped get Alma the job.

Alma immediately develops a bond with Sara, who wants Alma to teach her how to hold her breath underwater. It’s soon revealed that Alma has had a tragic life: Her two children (a son and a daughter) have died, and her husband has disappeared. Natalia’s husband (Sara’s father) has also been missing for the last few years, with no signs of foul play. Enrique is convinced that Natalia’s husband abandoned her because her husband doesn’t love her anymore, which is a theory that he cruelly brings up to Natalie when she talks to Enrique about her missing spouse.

After Alma arrives in the household, more strange things starts happening. Carmen begins having nightmares. Enrique does something very creepy, which makes it obvious that he hasn’t changed his ways. And there’s a pet frog that Sara has grown attached to that ends up being the basis for a startling scene in the movie.

“La Llorona” is not the type of horror movie where someone gets attacked or killed every 15 minutes. Instead, the seeping and growing terror is more psychological, although there’s still some disturbing violence in the movie. Alma is the catalyst for many of the things that happen later in the story, but the movie’s emotional center is really Natalia, who becomes increasingly conflicted as she starts to find out that the man she thought her father was directly contradicts with who he actually is.

Writer/director Bustamante has impressively crafted a story not just about revenge for human atrocities but also family betrayal. “La Llorona” has many scenes that are visually striking, beginning with the opening scene, that will send chills up the spines of people watching the movie. And unlike a lot of horror movies, “La Llorona” will make people think about the social issues raised in the film. The movie vividly juxtaposes the brutalities of war with the torment caused by the aftermath of war—and the film makes people wonder which is worse.

Shudder premiered “La Llorona” on August 6, 2020.