Norma, who finds herself in mid-life

Norma comes from Argentina. It’s a charming drama about how Norma transforms herself in mid-life. The life she was leading is stifling. She can’t breathe, she’s prone to panic attacks, she can’t sleep. She needs a change and doesn’t know it. When she realizes that things need to be different she makes huge changes that transform her life.

Mercedes Morán plays Norma. She co-wrote the screenplay with director Santiago Giralt. It felt absolutely real and true to me as a woman who rewrote her life in the middle in much the same way.

The story begins when Norma is thrown off balance because her maid quits. The one small change in her routine brought every other aspect of her life into play.

Norma has a husband (Alejandro Awada), an 80 year old telenova loving mother (Elvira Onetto), and a daughter (Mey Scápola) who is a doctor. She is caretaker to the whole bunch of them. No one takes care of her.

When she snapped, she tried smoking marijuana. She tried drinking. She visited a therapist named Judith (Lorena Vega). She didn’t think therapy was what she needed. She needed a friend and Judith was happy to fill that role instead. They became very close.

She spent time away from home in the family cottage. The cottage was for sale. Norma decided it was not for sale, it was where she would live full time. The cottage had chickens, a greenhouse, and a handsome gardener (Marco Antonio Caponi).

The story had twists, surprises, and moments of poetic/karmic justice. Mercedes Morán was excellent showing the moods and changes that Norma experienced as she struggled to decipher her own life. Her performance was 100% emotionally true.

You might enjoy the film’s Instagram page. There are lots of photos of the cast. You can watch this undiscovered gem on Netflix. If you do watch it, please share your reaction in the comments.