The movie was dragging but it also had a dragging effect on me, like sniffing a cigarette and enjoying the after-effect more than the actual inhaling of nicotine.

Adela is a forgotten beauty, and radio talent. She lives in a dump site with a gay manicurist, a double-crossing thief, and a cradle-snatching middle-aged woman for friends. She turns eighty and begins her day with sweet anticipation of how she’s going to celebrate it. She mingles with a lot of people, has her nails manicured, dresses herself nicely, and goes to church.

The irony is that she stays happy and hopeful like a little child who’s been promised of a beautiful birthday cake despite the apparent ugliness that surrounds her.

The birthday cake provides as motivation for her to go on with her life, confronting loneliness in the face and telling it that she’s not alone, not with her daughter and grandchildren still in contact with her.

But she breaks down, as gracefully as she held on, at the end. How she dealt with the disappointment was very in-lined with her character. With the birthday cake taken away from her, she has nothing to hold on to, and she sinks into a quiet cry, alone—as she finally realizes how alone she really is.

Some of the scenes were very dragging, but there were some long scenes that were justified, especially the last scene.

Bottom line is, I don’t want my mother or me to share the same sad fate as hers. Really, older people kill me.