CASA CHICA

Synopsis

After their parents separate, 11-year-old Quique and 5-year-old Valentina move into a tiny apartment under their mother’s care. On their first Sunday with their father, he introduces them to his “new family,” where the siblings discover that their half-sister is the same age as Valentina. Through a cinematographic diptych, we experience their emotions and perspectives, piecing together the director’s fragmented memories. The term “casa chica” (small house) refers to a form of concubinage in Mexican society. It involves a secondary family – comprising a wife and children – that some married men maintain separately from their primary family, known as the “casa grande” (big house).