‘The Embrace’ gives voice to Milei’s critics

The Embrace is a beautiful, mournful look at modern Argentina through the eyes of Caro, a woman who quit her job as a notary at 40 years old to dedicate herself to tango. The short documentary, directed by the New York–based filmmaker John Owens, is set against the backdrop of President Javier Milei’s election, and Caro is struggling.

“They’re not going to pay me a salary for teaching tango lessons,” she says into the phone shortly after election night. “How do you fight what the people chose?” glistening dancers ask each other on the street.

Punctuated by dire-sounding news clips about abortion rights and funding for women’s services, it’s clearly an anti-Milei political film. But the politics are conveyed almost exclusively as a wave of negative emotion. The film is a brief, poetic counterpoint for those who are optimistic about the Milei era but want to understand those who feel differently.