We often wonder why some movies are made. “Sayen” is a movie with some angst and a gutsy protagonist that teases the audience with the promise of a social commentary on the continued oppression of minorities while being extremely run-of-the-mill the entire time. This movie lasted an hour and a half, and the sequel is going to have the same runtime, if not more. These two movies could have come together as one 2-hour-long movie, and while it may have been more engaging than “Sayen,” it would still have been unnecessary. Once upon a time, there was Erin Brockovich, who fought for what she believed in, and then there was the Bride from Kill Bill, who knew how to throw punches that hurt. We are not old enough to remember older examples, but we can say that every time someone tries to show a woman fighting against the world, they make that her entire personality.
We never come to know how she is as a person when she is not fighting, and that is exactly what happens with Sayen. We know she is a ‘warrior’ because she has to be, but other than that, we don’t think we even know what she was studying for the six years she was away from her people. Also, was an entire movie required to show her being chased around by the villains? And why is the only issue between children and parents in movies and television series about the former vying for the approval of the latter? Has that become the limit of our imagination? Finally, the depiction of the exploitation of such communities was so surface-level that it just felt like bait for the audience. We know that this movie was supposed to touch a chord with the audience, but its lack of insight and cliched execution ensured that it didn’t. Anyway, let’s not dwell more on our never-ending complaints about shows that are just not it and see what happens in the movie.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Does Sayen Go On The Run?
Since we have dissed the movie a lot, we would like to say one positive thing about it before the summary: the music during the action scenes is really on-point. We normally check our phones when two people are fighting on the screen, but this time, we were watching simply because of the music and the vibe it created.
Coming to the storyline, Sayen returns home after six years of studying, and she wants to help her community. A little background on Sayen: her father was unfairly convicted of a crime and taken away by the police in front of her eyes as a child. Sayen wanted to protect herself and the others around her; hence, she started learning how to fight at a young age. She has grown up with her grandmother, with whom she is very close. We would talk a bit more about the culture of their community and their relationship with the forests, but as we said, it did not add to the plot one bit. This was an opportunity lost by the creators to make the movie more engaging. One day, some people from the company Actaeon come to meet Ilwen and Sayen. They want to buy a part of the forests, and they promise Ilwen a better life and a sustainable future for the community. Ilwen says that they already have that, and she doesn’t need it from the people they fought to keep off their land for centuries.
When the people are going back, Sayen follows them secretly, and she eavesdrops on them to know what they are really up to. They have found cobalt deposits on their land, and once they gain possession, the Mapuche will be displaced for Actaeon’s economic benefits. Unfortunately, Sayen is caught spying on them, though she manages to escape in time. She tells her grandmother everything, and when Antonio and his group show up, Ilwen is furious. Antonio similarly loses his temper and, in a fit of rage, shoots Ilwen dead. An enraged Sayen is knocked down, and they place their bodies in the house to set it on fire. Luckily, Sayen comes back to consciousness just in time and escapes, with the others alerted of it. Antonio and his group need to capture and kill her before she talks to the rest of her community and tells them Actaeon’s secrets.
The matter with Antonio is that he wants everything to go well because he wants to prove to his father that he is good enough. In Antonio’s own words, his father only ever notices him when he makes mistakes. Meanwhile, the situation on the ground doesn’t stay hidden for long, and Antonio’s father, Maximo, comes to know about it. He tries to contain it by pulling some strings with the investigating officer, Manriquer. He goes with the story that Sayen was the one to kill her grandmother and the others and is on the run now. The fact is that Sayen has killed no one so far. At best, she has left them incapacitated, but it is Antonio’s men who continue to do the deed for him and blame Sayen. They also arrested two of the Mapuche, Nawel and Pedro, who were later rescued by Jose. They have figured out what is going on, though they don’t know that the reason is the company’s greed for the cobalt beneath the land. The trio set out to find Sayen so that they could figure out a plan.
‘Sayen’ Ending Explained: Does Sayen Protect Her Community And Prove Her Innocence?
Sayen is fighting a battle of her own. She jumps off a cliff into a river, fixes her dislocated shoulder by herself, fights with Miranda and Bykov, and keeps going with the single intention of killing Antonio. However, things change a bit when she meets Lira. He tells her that Maximo is pulling the strings with Antonio, and their company has done this before in other countries. Sayen has no sympathy for him but agrees to help him leave the jungle in return for his help. Sayen agrees, seeing no other way out. But the next morning, she hears some gunshots. Antonio and Miranda have killed Pedro and Nawel. When Sayen tries to wake up Lira, she finds that he has passed away in his sleep. Though she escapes from there temporarily, Sayen takes her revenge by knocking down Miranda, but she is soon captured by Antonio. He is furious that she has created so much trouble instead of just taking his money and clearing the way for him. A few taunts are exchanged between them, and Sayen manages to escape with the help of Jose, who has been looking for her. He tells her that the only solution to the problem is to expose what Actaeon is doing. If Sayen kills Antonio and Maximo, it still won’t help her community as much as exposing the truth about these companies would. Sayen understands, but before they can plan further, Jose is shot by Antonio.
Sayen has no choice but to run, as Antonio is armed. She gets on a boat, and Antonio follows her. They are quite literally fighting each other to death, but Sayen is not one to give up. She manages to kill Antonio before escaping from the police, who have been following them on helicopters. In the ending scene, we see Maximo planning on expanding his operations in the north, and Sayen is also going there to act on the plan she made with Jose. Currently, the media is painting her as an escaped criminal who is following in the footsteps of her incarcerated father. In the sequel, we will see her prove her innocence and get the needed justice for her community.
Final Thoughts
In “Sayen” 2, we can undoubtedly expect more action and the accompanying zany music. It might also involve a bit of investigative work as Sayen will have to look for evidence to prove wrongdoing on the part of Actaeon. Since the corporation has connections everywhere, figuring out a way to bring the truth to the world is going to be a real uphill battle for Sayen. To be honest, we don’t know what we can expect from the sequel since we feel like we already know what is going to be in it. There is really not a lot left for us to say. We can only hope that we are proven wrong by the creators of the movie and that they are able to produce a more engaging product than what we have here right now.
