Directed by Natalia Beristain, ‘Noise’ (Original title: Ruido) is a 2023 Spanish-language film streaming on Netflix. It tells a harrowing tale of a mother looking for her lost daughter, who has been missing for over nine months. While facing a battle with the outside forces, the film also highlights the internal battle she fights in the face of silent authorities and legal systems. Hers is but one such story among an ocean of mothers, daughters, and relatives of many disappeared citizens. While telling a personal narrative through a character-driven approach, the screenplay leads to the bigger issues from real life, where the underlying secrets become evident through the lack of response to these people.
Noise (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film begins with a deeply unsettling shot to introduce us to the protagonist, Julia (Julieta Egurrola). There is a sound of military drumming audible in the background whilst we see her covered in a fog of purple smoke. After understanding her mental state and the turmoil she possibly is in, we see her in an empty, silent home glancing at the photos of her daughter. Later, she goes to a local attorney general’s office with her husband, Arturo (Arturo Beristáin), to enquire about their daughter, Gertrudis’s status. Their main entrance is filled with messages condemning the Mexican femicide.
The assigned officer ignores her queries, and as a result, she finds it even harder to stay patient. She is being shown photos of a person to identify whether the dead body is of Ger, which enrages her. So, he goes out to bring the senior prosecutor Zamudio Rodriguez to have a word with the couple. Through his manner of conduct, it becomes evident to her and us that the information is intently kept secret. She leaves the office in a rage and, afterward, goes to attend a meeting with people that are grappling with the disappearance of someone close to them.
While hearing their stories, you see the absolute disregard shown toward their worries and how it has made them feel broken. Soon after, Julia shares the struggle she went through tracing down Ger’s whereabouts and received no help. She even finds it hard to make peace with the niceness that her husband shows her since it keeps reminding her about Ger, who always used to be happy. Abril (Teresa Ruiz), who was a part of this meeting, later meets her outside with her daughter Emilia. She is a journalist who is investigating the cases of those like Ger. They speak about her and how poorly the authorities are tackling this issue.
Later at night, Arturo suggests she go back to work at the gallery to be able to help herself financially. While having been used to working as an artist, now she is spending her time embroidering things for herself. It brings out the larger subject to the forefront that she does not want to stop investigating the truth. He speaks about how he is tackling Ger’s disappearance and the pain it causes him, where he cannot even identify who he is anymore. She tries to reconcile with Ger’s loss while looking at the last video message sent by her. She always told Julia to believe in herself with her work, which is what makes her keep her spirit intact with the strong hope of finding her.
With the same hope, Julia goes searching for Ger with Abril to a facility to speak with Cassandra, a lawyer who has no ties with the government, unlike Zamudio. Julia mentions that before she disappeared, Ger had gone to her graduation party, and a video of Ger snorting cocaine with her friends from during that party is being used against her by the police. Cassandra suggests going through the red light district to see if Ger is there since many attractive women are kidnapped and taken there for trafficking. Along with Abril, she goes to a trailer filled with dead bodies but does not find Ger among them. Horrified, she then goes to the red light district but flees the place upon cops’ arrival and goes to a pastor’s shelter.
Over there, she meets many victims of kidnapping but still does not find Ger. She searches the fields for dead bodies, with people who have also lost their close ones like her. She finds a sense of community among them, which comforts her for the time being. However, she is surprised by Abril being deeply committed to this mission despite having a young daughter of her own. She notes doing this selfless work precisely because she has a daughter. While any other person would care for just their children, she does it because she understands the importance of having a family.
While traveling to another location by bus, some men stop the vehicle and forcefully take Abril away with them. Even if Julia wants to help her, she realizes her helplessness in that matter. While being worried about Abril’s safety, she learns from Zamudio about a person who might have some information on Ger. This man, who is a part of a drug cartel, notes having seen Ger. After listening to Julia’s concern toward her daughter, he tells her to stop wasting her time. While she asks for a reason, he notes that she and her friends were snorting cocaine that wasn’t theirs. They took her because of this and also because she is attractive. Julia gets horrified by the thought that men like him could have raped and tortured Ger. Still, she received no clear answer to what happened to her daughter.
Noise (2023) Movie Ending, Explained:
Where is Ger? Does Julia manage to find her?
After her conversation with that man, Julia leaves the building and enters a crowd of protestors in a hazy mental state. It includes several women protesting against the authorities for their silence about their missing loved ones. She gets emotional seeing these people marching with the kind of agony that she is going through. She soon joins them and starts chanting along with them, not just due to the feeling of solidarity but with a sense of kinship. Soon after, the police enter the place and start attacking the crowd. While trying to escape, she enters a nearby construction along with other women.
However, she soon gets hit by one of the policemen and falls down unconscious. We see her waking up and walking outside, while no one else notices her apart from a masked woman. Along with her, Julia suddenly enters a different place, which she keeps visiting through her nightmarish visions. Over there, she notices that this woman is in fact Ger and is elated to have been finally able to meet her.
The ending denotes the utter helplessness felt by those like Julia, who may find the comfort of meeting their loved ones only after their death. After this melancholic narrative ending, we see the ground reality of those like Ger. In the war on drugs from Mexico, over 90,000 people have gone missing, just like her. And the film wants to bring our attention not just to the number but to the families that have been torn apart due to the lack of attention by authorities.
