so, that s one strand of the story. in another strand, cruz s character is trying to excavate a mass grave in her hometown from the civil war, so there are two stories. parallel mothers, parallel stories, personal and political, which sounds like a fascinating combination. if you think of the films of guillermo del toro, like the devil s backbone or pan s labyrinth, he s managed to do exactly that with the spanish civil war. it beautifully designed and beautifully played and a well written script with great performances and a wonderful score. and it sounds like a perfect match. the problem for me if it is not so much parallel stories, it is tangential stories.