Gloria

Directed by Sebastián Lelio

(R)

***

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Seeking romance after age 50 is a quest so fraught that it “borders on the Higher Math,” said David Edelstein in New York magazine. This “lovely surprise” of a movie never pretends otherwise, but because “there’s something indefatigable” about the 58-year-old title character as she strives to add a man to her life, the film “manages to leave you with an urge to dance.” Think of this Chilean import as an “affectionately ironic love story,” said Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times. Gloria has a job and two grown children who give her little time, and she spends her nights trawling Santiago’s singles bars, which eventually leads to a connection, a night of sex, and the possibility of a lasting relationship. Director Sebastián Lelio shoots the bedroom scenes with “striking” matter-of-factness, but it’s his star you’ll remember, said David Denby in The New Yorker. Paulina García “reacts so idiosyncratically to events that she keeps us fascinated, even when the script turns patchy.” Her Gloria is unraveling before our eyes. “Yet she is also brave”—a youthful spirit too hungry to fade away quietly.