Lulú wakes up amidst the silence of a house that has been emptied. Five years ago her eight-year-old son, Brandon, and her husband disappeared. The absence they left behind now makes her live in a limbo that is also inhabited by desire, hope and the fight to find them alive.
From the Institute of Legal Medicine, "The Room of Bones" follows several mothers from El Salvador who search for the remains of their children, who were disappeared amidst violence in their country. The film is a look at the twenty or more bodies that are received at the morgue on a monthly basis and remain unclaimed; the story of DNA with no name, or identifiable family, of bodies that became cadavers after being struck for belonging to a rival gang.
This beautifully integrated, multi-threaded narrative seamlessly interweaves six stories set in radically different locations across Central America, ranging from the tropical forests of Guatemala to the skyscrapers of Panama City. When a solar storm leaves the region without power, myriad dramas unfold over the course of five days during which all conveniences of modernity are stripped away. In Costa Rica, a pastor and his daughter worry for the future of their church, while in El Salvador, a grandmother and grandson make an arduous journey into the city. A husband and wife reconnect in Honduras, as a young couple nurses a mysterious stranger back to health in Guatemala. Meanwhile, in Nicaragua, a young woman prepares for her quinceañera and in Panama, a housekeeper grows exasperated with her demanding employer.
Brings together four inspiring stories from North, South, East, and West El Salvador. With a soft poetic veil, these stories portray a rich cultural, ecological and social diversity, showing a viewpoint of the country that distances itself from the accounts of violence that prevail in the Central American region.
