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April's Daughters

Name: April's Daughters
Director: Michel Franco
Released: 2017
Duration: 103 min

Representation Score

6.8/10

Good

2017

Director

Michel Franco

Runtime

103 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Michel Franco’s drama provides a grounded, non-Western perspective by utilizing a localized Mexican cast. The film avoids sanitized versions of family life often seen in mainstream cinema, instead offering a raw look at maternal inadequacy and socioeconomic strain. However, the film's scope is limited by its traditional straight-centered structure and a lack of diverse representation. While it challenges gendered expectations of motherhood, it does not expand into queer or neurodivergent territory. Ultimately, the work is a powerful domestic study that prioritizes cultural authenticity and psychological realism over broad social inclusivity.

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Category Breakdown

Does April's Daughters have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film adheres to a strictly straight-centered framework and lacks any representation of queer narratives or non-traditional gender identities.

How does April's Daughters portray gender?

Good

The story centers around women's ability to drive the narrative by challenging the cliché of the stable matriarch. It portrays motherhood through failure and emotional instability rather than competence.

How racially and ethnically diverse is April's Daughters?

Good

The production features an authentic Mexican cast and setting. It avoids Western cinematic clichés by grounding the characters in a specific middle-class context.

How does April's Daughters represent religion and culture?

Fair

The narrative explores the breakdown of the nuclear family as a site of trauma. It favors moral relativism over a singular, traditional moral code.

Does April's Daughters include disability representation?

Limited

Psychological distress and grief drive the plot, but these elements lack nuanced exploration. Mental fragility often serves as a narrative device rather than a study of individual ability to act.

Present on Screen

Authentic Mexican setting and cast avoid common cinematic clichés of 'otherness'.
Challenges traditional gender roles by portraying motherhood as volatile and imperfect.
Provides a grounded, non-Western perspective on middle-class domesticity.

Limited or Absent

Lacks representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-traditional gender narratives.
Uses psychological distress primarily as a plot device rather than exploring mental health ability to act.
Maintains a narrow, traditional straight-centered framework.

Official Synopsis

Valeria is 17 and pregnant. She lives in Puerto Vallarta with Clara, her half sister. Valeria has not wanted her long-absent mother, April, to find out about her pregnancy, but due to the economic strain and the overwhelming responsibility of having a baby in the house, Clara decides to call their mother. April arrives, willing to her daughters, but we soon understand why Valeria had wanted her to stay away.

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