Set during a hot late summer, Mumenthaler’s debut follows the sisters Marina, Sofia and Violeta, who come to terms with the death of their grandmother as they lounge about, quarrel and cuddle. Between these sob sessions in Grandma’s house, the young women test each other’s boundaries. Winner of the Golden Leopard in Locarno.
After their grandma dies, the sisters Sofia, Marina and Violeta try to pick up their lives again in the house where the old woman had brought them up. They quibble and form alliances, drag boyfriends along and then break up. Sofia suddenly wonders if maybe Marina was adopted; she is so different. And she has blue eyes. Then Violeta has suddenly left Buenos Aires. By plane, with some man or other.
Back to Stay is a poetic, light-hearted and atmospheric drama about loss and blood bonds. The camera frequently moves through the old house, past the household effects of grandma and the things stored in the garage that had belonged to the three graces' parents. The tempo is languidly slow, the soundtrack (Fran Gayo, Bridget St. John, Linda Perhacs) is beautiful.
At the Locarno Festival, this Argentine-Swiss-Dutch coproduction won no less than five awards, including the Golden Leopard for best film, the prize for best actress (María Canale) and the FIPRESCI Award from the international film press.