Rodrigo Prieto is an acclaimed cinematographer known for his frequent collaborations with Alejandro González Iñárritu and Martin Scorsese. Most recently, he was nominated for an Oscar for his work on Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Now, he has returned with his directorial debut, “Pedro Paramo,” which is now streaming on Netflix. The film is based on Juan Rulfo’s novel of the same name, and it premiered at the 2024 TIFF. It is a magic realist fable mapping the life of the titular character mainly through the eyes of his son. Prieto presents multiple fantastical scenes that feel wonderfully mystical on their own. However, when put together, they do not form anything remotely coherent. So, here’s me trying to make sense of its confusion.
Spoilers Ahead
Pedro Paramo (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“Pedro Paramo” on Netflix follows Juan Preciado traveling to Comala to honor his mother’s last wish to meet his estranged father, Pedro Paramo. However, his journey leads him in strange directions that make him question the nature of his reality. Through his eyes, we learn about Pedro Paramo’s life, who exploited those around him.
What happens in ‘Pedro Paramo’ on Netflix?
“Pedro Paramo” follows Juan Preciado (Tenoch Huerta), a man who visits the small desolate town of Comala to fulfill his mother’s dying wish to meet his father. On his way, he crosses paths with Abundio Martinez (Noe Hernandez), a local who reveals that he is also Pedro’s son and has killed Pedro. He finds Juan’s journey futile since Comala is a forlorn town and Pedro is dead. Before parting ways, he tells Juan to look for help from Eduviges Dyada (Dolores Heredia). On his way to Dyada’s house, Juan sees no sign of human presence. Still, he finds Dyada’s old house and steps in to find a place to rest for the night.
Upon Juan’s arrival, Dyada claims that Juan’s mother had told her about his arrival. Juan finds it strange given that his mother is dead. Anyhow, Dyada tells Juan stories from his father, Pedro’s past. As a child, Pedro faced heartbreak. The girl he loved was forced to leave Comala with her father. Later, in his early adulthood, Pedro married Juan’s mother, Doloritas (Ishbel Bautista). Dyada, who was once her close friend, knows the turmoil she faced in their marriage. Besides Juan, Pedro had many children. However, he acknowledged only Miguel (Santiago Colores), who died after his heartbreak from a woman.
Does Juan see ghosts in Comala?
After talking about the circumstances surrounding Miguel’s death, Dyada mysteriously disappears. Moments later, Juan meets Damiana Cisernos (Mayra Batalla), his babysitter when he was a child. As she recounts the scenarios from Pedro’s life, Juan starts realizing that he is surrounded by the spirits of the past Comala inhabitants, who abandoned the town tired from Pedro’s torture. Years ago, Pedro was the landowner of Media Luna and his family controlled most of the matters in their town. He married Juan’s mother since his family owed her family a huge sum. By marrying her, he settled the score.
Later, Pedro left Doloritas at her sister’s place and abandoned her and Juan. Throughout his life, Pedro exploited anyone and everyone he deemed powerless. He was also on the lookout for the man responsible for his father’s death. Juan sees a vision where Pedro and his cronies beat the man who likely killed the old man. As Juan sees it unfold, dumbfounded and terrified, a pair of siblings catch up to him and bring him to his senses. Juan assumes they are a married couple but the woman clears his doubts.
After resting in their place, he gets in the same bed with the woman, whose body suddenly transforms into mud. Juan finds his way out of her house turned almost entirely into mud. This happens because the siblings were in an incestuous relationship and Juan was the only stranger that the woman had slept with.
Why was Pedro Paramo feared and hated in the rural town of Comala?
Pedro was an evil man who used his position of power to molest and rape women. Despite having women from several women, he only fathered Miguel, likely due to their similar crooked mentality. Like his father, Miguel also exploited women without any remorse and maintained his sense of control. He killed the town priest, Father Renteria’s brother, and raped his niece, AnaDue. Pedro ignored these sinful crimes. Even after Miguel’s death, Pedro continued his reign by tricking others to serve him. When the rebels joined forces against him during a cultural revolution, he claimed to help their movement with the required money and manpower.
Shortly after, Pedro showed his true colors by giving them nothing and resuming his command over the town. He benefited from the patriarchal, exploitative system that allowed him to be cruel without consequences. Later on, he got in touch with the girl he loved, Susana (Sarah Rovira), who had been widowed by then. He wanted her to be in his life. Despite her father’s refusal who himself had a problematic relationship with her, Pedro forced her into reuniting with him. However, she never loved him and saw this marriage as a betrayal of her devotion to her late husband. The guilt ate her up from inside leading to her eventual passing.
Pedro Paramo (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Did Abundio Martinez really kill Pedro Paramo?
Juan Preciado was introduced to Comala by Abundio Martinez, one of Pedro Paramo’s sons who killed him. It soured Juan’s perception of his father and the town his mother spoke about. He steps into this town to realize that all he is meeting are ghosts since the people abandoned the town because of Pedro’s self-centered, cruel actions. After gaining back control over the land from the revolutionaries who killed his father’s right-hand man, Pedro lost the hope of leading a life with the love of his life. In despair, he abandoned the people he was in control of.
As a result of his detachment, the townsfolk left Comala for the greener pastures and stayed behind as miserable spirits, still haunting the town. At the end of “Pedro Paramo,” we learn about Pedro Paramo’s fate as Juan walks around the town as a ghost. Pedro lived a long life to be confronted with consequences for his actions only in the later part of his life. When Abundio met Pedro to seek help to bury his wife, Pedro acted as apathetically as before. Pedro did not even realize Abundio was his son. So, in a fit of rage, Abundio killed Pedro Paramo. Although their bodies left, their spirit stayed behind including Abdundio’s, who was ignored just as Pedro’s other children.
