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Given the number of films that have explored the life and work of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, one might think all angles have been exhausted. But now a new movie has come along with a distinct focus. A Canada-France co-production from filmmakers Karine Vézina and André Kadi, "Hola Frida" is a charming enough, 2D animated feature adapted from Sophie Faucher's picture book "Frida, c'est moi." The brisk narrative takes plenty of liberties with Kahlo's early years in the Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacán. This vivacious Frida (Layla Tuy-Sok) plays with friends and draws imaginative pictures while dreaming of becoming a doctor.
With brightly colored, if modestly decorated backgrounds, and character designs defined by their large round heads and clean lines, "Hola Frida" indeed embraces the aesthetic simplicity of a modern children's tome. Interestingly, Kahlo's vivid pictoral universe seems to have found a suitable home in animation as of late. Carla Gutierrez's 2024 documentary "Frida," narrated in the first person based on text written by Kahlo herself, also employed animation to enliven some of the artist's most emblematic works.
Aimed at very young viewers, "Hola Frida" derives its harmless humor from the heroine's playful dog Chiquita and the rapport between her parents Matilde (Lucinda Davis) and Guillermo (Marcel Jeannin). One can also sense a marked educational intent. The film claims Kahlo was of Indigenous Zapotec ancestry on her mother's side, and thus briefly engages with that civilization's worldview. Later, one is tacitly made aware of the Mexican Revolution happening at the time when Frida questions the meaning behind the slogans that the proletariat chant as they demand rights to the land on which they toil.
Conflict takes the form of a young bully, Rafael (Eleanor Noble), who makes Frida's weak leg his target. Determined to gain her strength back after suffering from poliomyelitis (portrayed as a "Karate Kid"-like training sequence), the character's main goal is to participate in a local part of a roller-skating race. For all its fictive embellishments and overall kid-oriented tone, "Hola Frida" does attempt to capture the defiant personality of the painter, ableit if in an understandably sanitized manner. One scene sees her trying to wear a suit for an important event to her mother's chagrin.
The societal norms imposed om women in the early 20th century manifest in Matilde's worries about what those around them might think about Frida's unconventional behavior and professional aspirations. Spelling out the theme of empowerment, young Frida idolizes the first woman to graduate as a medical doctor in Mexico: Matilde Montoya Lafragua.
The most evocative sequences occur in Frida's subconscious where she encounters another version of herself who doesn't suffer from illnesses and boasts the confidence she lacks while awake. These visions reference the duality Kahlo expressed in one of her most famous paintings, "The Two Fridas." In this liminal space between reality and the afterlife, Frida bargains with la Catrina, an alluring female embodiment of death popular in Mexican culture. The sickly girl demands more time among the living. These otherworldly digressions from the plot and their treatment of mortality elevate the family-friendly biopic from its more standard messaging of being yourself despite others' opinions.
The film hits theaters in a Spanglish dub, where the dialogue is in English for the most part with Spanish words accentuating some of the phrases (as is fairly common in American film and TV featuring Latino characters). This choice makes for some awkward line delivery, and it sometimes forces characters to repeat the Spanish words in English so that non-bilingual viewers can understand. The result calls to mind the language in "Dora the Explorer." The decision responds to a desire to reach a wider audience, especially young children who are the target audience and for whom subtitles would represent a hurdle. During its original festival run, however, "Hola Frida" screened with a Spanish-language track, which helped the picture feel more authentic to the people and places it's depicting.
Structurally, "Hola Frida" makes some jumps to drive its point of resilience home, while avoiding the complications of her adult life. Though the first hour deals with Kahlo the child, the last few minutes reintroduce her as a teen and include her brutal tram accident to bring her back to the unconscious space to fend off death once more. Vézina and Kadi's feature is caught between the kiddie sensibilities the approach demands and a desire to reach for slightly more mature matter through dreamlike imagery. This results in an introduction to Frida Kahlo that's by design more sentimental and uplifting than compelling.