Cold

We first find Carmen working on her vehicle with her dog Armando, her hands showing signs of frostbite. She talks to her daughter Daniella on the phone, who is excited to tell her mother about college; she also shows concern for her mother’s well-being, knowing that while she’ll go out of her way for the people around her, she will often neglect her own health. Carmen works tirelessly day in and day out to get the vehicle to start, but every time she makes progress with the vehicle, something else breaks; for Carmen, everything is 1 step forward, 5 steps back. Having enough food for only a few hundred days, Carmen eats nothing but chickpeas and tuna; her starvation, cold exposure, and isolation play tricks on her mind and accelerate her mental and physical deterioration. One day while working, Carmen becomes trapped underneath the vehicle; Armando decides now is an excellent time to find a new life in the forest and leaves Carmen behind. She eventually gets free, but not without picturing her hand being mangled by the car’s engine. As Carmen regresses, she is visited by a guide who checks in on her. He speaks Spanish to her and seems like someone she’s met before but not someone she knows. He attempts to comfort her but tells her that if she does not get her vehicle started after the 1,000th day, she will fade into nothing, forgotten by time. Attracted by the darkness of her basement, Carmen sees an apparition of Daniella and finally can say goodbye to her daughter. Now with nothing to go on for, Carmen turns to herself. Having already lost a pinky to frostbite, she sees her other two frostbitten fingers as her last meal cuts off and devours both appendages. Having come to terms with the loss of her daughter and cutting out her pain Carmen is now free to leave her purgatory state and move on to the next chapter of her life.

Written by Greg Poppa with Spanish dialogue by Sugey Cruz (USA)