Benjamín Naishtat’s ‘Glaxo’ Lands with Festival Buzz, Adapting Ronsino’s Industrial Noir

Director Benjamín Naishtat has unveiled his latest feature, Glaxo, igniting a fresh wave of festival buzz following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11. The film, an adaptation of Hernán Ronsino’s critically lauded 2009 novel, plunges audiences into the intricate, often unsettling, landscape of Argentina’s industrial heartland, blending historical undercurrents with a taut, noir-inflected narrative. Its debut marks a significant moment, reinforcing Naishtat’s reputation for crafting intellectually rigorous and stylistically precise cinema that grapples with national identity and its discontents.

The Toronto premiere served as the launchpad for Glaxo, positioning it as a film to watch in the autumn festival circuit. Following its TIFF bow, the picture is slated for prestigious showcases at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival. This triple-festival trajectory is a strong indicator of international distributor interest and potential critical acclaim, signaling that Glaxo is more than just another festival entry; it is a meticulously crafted work designed to resonate beyond its national borders. For Naishtat, whose previous works like Rojo (2018) and El Movimiento (2015) have garnered significant attention on the global stage, Glaxo represents a continuation of his thematic explorations into Argentina’s complex political and social fabric.

At the core of Glaxo’s narrative is Miranda, portrayed by the formidable Lali Espósito, whose character is intricately linked to the mysterious figure of Folcada, played by Esteban Lamothe. Marcelo Subiotto also features prominently, rounding out a cast that brings considerable dramatic weight to Ronsino’s prose. Espósito, known for her multifaceted career spanning music, television, and film, takes on a role that promises to showcase her dramatic range, moving beyond her pop culture icon status to embody a character steeped in the novel’s pervasive atmosphere of unease and hidden histories. Her casting alone draws a broader audience, bridging the gap between art-house sensibilities and mainstream appeal, a strategic move for a film seeking both critical and commercial traction.

The source material, Hernán Ronsino’s novel, holds a revered place in contemporary Argentine literature. Published in 2009 by Eterna Cadencia, it cemented Ronsino’s status as a distinctive voice exploring the legacies of industrialization and memory in provincial Argentina. The novel’s setting, Chivilcoy, Ronsino’s birthplace in 1975, is not merely a backdrop but a character in itself. The presence of the Glaxo plant and the surrounding neighborhood, known colloquially as Barrio Glaxo, provides a tangible link to a specific industrial past, an era of expansion and subsequent decline that has left an indelible mark on the community’s psyche. This deep connection to place and history is what Naishtat aims to translate to the screen, leveraging the visual medium to evoke the novel’s rich, melancholic texture.

From Page to Screen: Capturing a Literary Legacy

The challenge of adapting a novel with such a strong sense of atmosphere and internal monologue is considerable. Ronsino’s prose is often described as spare yet evocative, relying on suggestion and fragmented narratives to build its world. Naishtat’s directorial approach, characterized by precise framing and a deliberate pace, seems well-suited to this task. His previous films have demonstrated a keen ability to use cinematic language to convey psychological states and historical weight, often employing meticulous period detail and nuanced performances to achieve a sense of authenticity. For Glaxo, this likely means a focus on the visual storytelling to convey the novel’s subtle dread and the unspoken tensions that define its characters and setting.

The novel’s journey to the English-speaking world further underscores its literary significance. Samuel Rutter’s 2017 translation for Melville House introduced Ronsino’s work to a wider international audience, earning praise for its fidelity to the original’s tone and rhythm. This pre-existing international recognition for the novel provides a strong foundation for the film’s global reception. Distributors and critics already familiar with Ronsino’s work will approach the adaptation with a certain level of expectation, both for its faithfulness to the source and for Naishtat’s unique interpretation. The translation’s success suggests a universal appeal in Ronsino’s themes, making Glaxo a potent cross-cultural cinematic offering.

Naishtat’s filmography consistently delves into critical periods of Argentine history, often with a focus on the lingering effects of political turmoil and social upheaval. Rojo, for instance, explored the chilling atmosphere of the pre-dictatorship 1970s, examining complicity and moral decay with a detached, almost clinical eye. Glaxo, while perhaps not as overtly political, continues this engagement by examining the industrial legacy of a nation, and how the economic tides shape individual lives and collective memory. The Glaxo plant itself becomes a metaphor for larger forces at play, representing the promises and failures of progress, and the human cost of economic shifts.

The director’s choice of cinematography and sound design will be crucial in translating Ronsino’s dense atmosphere. One might anticipate a palette that reflects the industrial setting, perhaps muted tones and stark contrasts, alongside a soundscape that emphasizes the quiet hum of machinery, the echoing silence of abandoned spaces, and the subtle sounds of a community living with its past. These craft elements, when executed with Naishtat’s characteristic precision, promise to immerse the audience in the novel’s world, allowing the film to breathe with its own cinematic life while honoring its literary origins. Early word from Toronto suggests a film that delivers on this promise, with specific praise for its visual grammar and the performances it draws from its cast.

The festival circuit provides a vital platform for films like Glaxo, offering not just premieres but also opportunities for sales and distribution deals that can propel them to wider release. The prestige of TIFF, San Sebastián, and London is invaluable for generating critical momentum and attracting buyers. For Argentine cinema, which has consistently produced compelling and artistically significant works, Glaxo represents another strong contender on the international stage, potentially following in the footsteps of recent successes that have captivated global audiences and critics alike. Its reception at these festivals will be closely watched, not just for its artistic merit, but for its commercial viability in a competitive global market.

Ultimately, Glaxo arrives as a timely exploration of memory, industry, and the indelible marks left by history on both landscapes and lives. Naishtat’s track record, combined with the power of Ronsino’s source material and a compelling cast, positions the film as a significant entry in contemporary Latin American cinema. Its journey from page to screen, and now across international festivals, underscores a continuing fascination with stories that unearth the past to illuminate the present, offering a potent, unvarnished look at the human condition within the shadow of industrial decline. The film asks audiences to consider how we reconcile with the ghosts of progress, and what remains when the engines of industry fall silent.