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Pedro Aguilera's Spanish-language drama Influence (AKA La Influenza, 2007) constitutes a minimalist, low-key character study about a woman (Paloma Morales rapidly drowning amid the throes of a challenging and demanding life. As the story opens, her world begins to fall to pieces: the cosmetic shop that she runs is forcibly shut down, her belongings are repossessed and she drifts into uncertainty about the specific futures of her children. In time, depression cloaks her and she loses all resolve and sense of responsibility. Not so her children, however, who exude as much courage and determination as ever and in fact instinctively take upon themselves the adult roles abandoned by their mother.