Manuela Martelli’s ‘El Deshielo’ explores Chile’s post-dictatorship silence

The film ‘El Deshielo’ (The Thaw), directed by Manuela Martelli, explores the lingering trauma of the Chilean dictatorship through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl named Inés. Set in 1992, the story takes place in a ski resort in the Andes where Inés lives with her grandparents while her parents attend the Universal Exposition in Seville, Spain.

The plot follows the mysterious disappearance of Hanna, a 14-year-old German athlete training in Chile, and the bond she shared with Inés. The film uses this disappearance as a metaphor for the silence and ‘omerta’ surrounding the crimes of the military regime during Chile’s transition to democracy.

Martelli utilizes the historical context of 1992—including Chile’s presentation of an Antarctic ice block at the Seville Expo—to symbolize the attempt to freeze or cover up the past. The narrative functions as both an initiation story and a psychological thriller, highlighting the contrast between the perceived peace of a new democratic era and the unresolved disappearances of the dictatorship.