Monstrilio

Santiago has just died at only eleven years old. His grieving mother, following a fierce maternal instinct and the dubious logic of an old folktale, removes a piece of the boy's lung and nurses it back to health until it grows, gains consciousness, and transforms into the voracious Monstrilio, whom she keeps hidden in the family's dilapidated mansion in Mexico City. Over time, Monstrilio begins to resemble the Santiago he once was. However, his impulses threaten to destroy this fragile second chance at life. A poignant reflection on grief, acceptance, and the monstrous aspects of love and loyalty. Gerardo Sámano combines a bold imagination and evocative prose with profound emotional intensity. Narrated in four acts that span the globe—from Brooklyn to Berlin—Monstrilio offers, with unsettling clarity, a cathartic and precise portrait of what it means to be human.