HOLA FRIDA - Mark Reviews Movies

Hola Frida, Level 33 Entertainment

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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 7, 2025

The life of Frida Kahlo was not an easy one, so it's little wonder that the makers of Hola Frida have selected the artist's childhood as the subject of this animated biography. Even then, the life of a young Kahlo wasn't free of pain and uncertainty, and directors Karine Vézina and André Kadi wisely don't attempt to soften that part of their narrative.

To do so would be counter to the truth of their main character's life and the source of so much of her revolutionary art, after all, and this film clearly has respect for both of those subjects. In telling the tale of what Kahlo's childhood might have been like, the filmmakers have opened up the artist's world to new generations.

It's not as if Kahlo's legacy needs the help. Take the inspiration for this simply but lovingly animated film. It's a Canadian picture book called "Frida, C'est Moi," written by Sophie Faucher and illustrated by Cara Carmina, which has been translated into multiple languages from its original French. That alone points toward the impact of the Mexican artist, who is known and whose work continues to be admired and studied more than 70 years after her death. She will certainly find new and younger audiences from this film, too.

That's partly because it tells a simple but relatable story. Young Frida (voice of Emma Rodriguez) lives with her parents and younger sister in a village outside Mexico City. Despite the setting of the 1910s, the girl goes through things children have experienced for decades, if not longer, and continue to experience to this day. Her time at school is one of learning and dread, thanks to a stubborn bully who doesn't hide his resentment of her. She loves but also, to some degree, fears her parents, because she believes they—especially her mother Matilde (voiced by Faucher)—expect so much of her, even at a young age.

Frida just wants to spend time with friends, explore the place where she lives, and dream of becoming a doctor one day, but social attitudes and circumstances of health become obstacles. For kids watching it, the notion that a girl so ordinary but who experiences some extraordinary difficulties could become an artist deserving of an animated film dedicated to her youth is a source of inspiration in itself. Once it becomes clear that those troubles are as much a source of inspiration to what made her unique and a great artist, the film reveals deeper lessons than some simple, straightforward one.

In other words, the material may be aimed at children, but there is much for anyone to appreciate and enjoy here. The art style, for one thing, is bold and vibrantly colored, animated in a storybook style that looks flat but expands to another realm of dimension when it comes to Frida's dreams. The animators don't replicate Kahlo's paintings in any direct way, but when a Frida on the verge of death sits atop an ancient temple with the sun and moon sitting impossibly in the sky, the inspiration is undeniable.

Much of the narrative is of the slice-of-life variety. Frida goes through town, playing in the market and climbing trees with her younger sister Cristina (voice of Rebeca Gonzales) and best friend Tonito (voice of Léo Côté) between spending time in class and at home. She even cares for a loyal stray dog, which waits for her and whatever food she might have brought from home.

One day, Frida feels a pain in her leg while hanging upside-down from a tree branch. It persists, and the girl develops a fever. The local doctor diagnosis her with polio.

The fight for her life plays out in a series of dream sequences, in which a different version of Frida guides her through lush dreamscapes of foliage and things from her ancestors' ancient civilization and a plant that beats like her heart. Death—as in an actual personage of La Murete, voiced by Annie Girard—is close and believes it's the girl's time, but the other self in Frida's mind convinces the girl and Death that Frida has too much more to do with her life.

That's a turning point in the story, obviously, but not toward Frida—who is a child, after all—figuring out who she is and what she wants. One of the subtly wise elements of the storytelling here is that this Frida is always in a state of learning and self-discovery. We only meet her as the adult artist (voiced by Olivia Ruiz) twice, in an introductory prologue and at the end.

The rest of the narrative has Frida see the world, other people, and her own struggles in a constantly evolving way, whether that be coming to understand that schoolyard bully, becoming determined to become a doctor because of her illness and the fact that her father Guillermo (voice of Manuel Tadros) has epilepsy, or realizing that her strict mother does support her, although that's tough for the woman to show. When the film eventually flashes forward to a slightly older Frida, she is still finding her way and still has new, more difficult struggles ahead of her.

What's special about the way this story is told, perhaps, is that it doesn't necessarily portray Frida as, well, particularly special. Hola Frida gives us a portrait of the famous artist as an everyday kid. If she can find her way and transform her challenges into art, that's an example for any child.

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