What Happened to Santiago (Lo que le Pasó a Santiago) is a 1989 film from Puerto Rico directed by Jacobo Morales.
Santiago is an accountant who, upon turning 65, is forced into retirement from a corporation. At loose ends and with a lot of time to fill now that he isn't working, he turns his attention to his family. Daughter Nereida is in the middle of a nasty divorce from her husband which is having an ill effect on their little son Jerry. Santiago winds up taking care of his grandson quite a bit. His son Eddie has suffered some mental health problems and is in a hospital; Santiago takes Eddie out of the hospital in part because now that he's retired he can't afford it anymore.
One day while sitting in the park (because he's retired and has nothing to do), Santiago, a widower, meets a lady named Angelina. Angelina, an attractive woman approximately 20 years younger than he, takes an interest in Santiago, but she is reluctant to tell him her phone number or her address or even her last name. Santiago and Angelina fall in love, even as he continues to wonder about her mysterious past.
Tropes:
- Age-Gap Romance: It isn't as absurd as some examples of this trope, but still, Santiago is dating a woman who looks to be 20-odd years younger than he is.note
- Aside Glance: One odd moment has Santiago sitting idly on a bench when a shootout between a thief and some cops erupts around him: the thief actually stands right next to Santiago (and behind a statue) while exchanging gunfire. After the thief runs off Santiago looks at the camera with a "WTF?" look on his face.
- Call-Back: As Santiago is taking Eddie out of the mental institution he asks "What about your guitar?" and is upset to hear that Eddie gave it away. At some point Santiago apparently got it back, because when Eddie's taking him out of the hospital near the end he says "What about your guitar?" and pulls it out of a closet.
- Cock-a-Doodle Dawn: The rural nature of the lovely estate where Angelina lives is shown by the sound of a rooster somewhere crowing the dawn.
- Creator Cameo: Jacobo Morales has a small part as Aristides Esquilín, the private eye that Santiago hires to find out information about Angelina.
- Disturbed Doves: The jackhammer of some workers apparently constructing a tomb disturbs Santiago's visit to his wife's grave, and it also disturbs the pigeons, who fly off theatrically.
- '80s Hair: Angelina has a pretty spectacular example of 1980s poofy hair.
- Flashback: Santiago has a memory of his wife, when they were both young, telling him that she hoped she'd die first because he's better able to take care of himself.
- Grave-Marking Scene: Santiago goes to visit the grave of his wife, dead several years. This is apparently a regular thing, as he's irritated when Nereida says she's busy and can't make it.
- Incurable Cough of Death: After getting caught out in the rain Santiago gets a cough. He blows off Eddie when Eddie gets worried. Naturally he gets double pneumonia. Subverted in the end when he recovers.
- Inner Monologue: Periodically from Santiago. In the opening scene at the retirement dinner he is acting polite but in Inner Monologue he's seething about being forced into retirement. Later, in a tense dinner scene with Nereida where he carps at her about her parenting choices, his inner monologue wonders why he can't just let things go.
- Ironic Juxtaposition: Santiago, still fuming about being forced into retirement, tries to console himself, thinking that there's lots he can do. This is immediately followed by Santiago having to stop his car to let a funeral pass.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: A mild example. Angelina is sexy and passionate and seems strangely devoted to cheering up a bald, pot-bellied old man 20 years her senior. She's intentionally mysterious, she has madcap ideas like how they should just limit their relationship to chance meetings in the park, and she even suggests that she might be a ghost. In classic MPDG style she seems to have no inner life, until the end where the private eye reveals her whole very complicated back story.
- Massage of Love: Santiago is chilly after getting caught in the rain with Angelina. She suggests she give him a rubdown with oil. Then she suggests he take off his clothes. Then she suggests they move to the bed. Sex follows.
- Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date: Santiago and Angelina do this as part of their courtship.
- Ominous Fog: Some scenes which suggest that Angelina might actually be a ghost have her wandering around her home, which is wreathed in Ominous Fog and lit spookily.
- Our Ghosts Are Different
- After they have sex for the first time Angelina tells Santiago not to open his eyes, because if he does he'll see that she is a ghost. There are moments in the movie which follow up on that and suggest that maybe she is a ghost. Santiago has dreams of his wife in a country house, then is surprised when he goes to Angelina's place and finds that it's the house from his dreams. There are also a couple of scenes where Angelina is shown wandering around her house alone, with the house looking like the set from the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" video—Ominous Fog, spooky music, spooky Chiaroscuro mood lighting.
- However at the end the detective tells Santiago Angelina's backstory, which is weird and shocking but also very non-supernatural: she got knocked up as a teenager, her abusive father forced her to give up the baby, she shot her abusive father, she spent time in mental institutions, her real name is Lena. Santiago even remembers the case, which was quite a scandal. It seems that the real ghost in the film is Santiago's wife, and it's implied that his wife matched Santiago and Lena up. The last scene has the whole family enjoying some domestic happiness at Angelina's house, while the ghost of Santiago's wife looks on with satisfaction.
- The Power of Love: It motivates the ghost of Santiago's wife to find him a new companion, Angelina, and match them up.
- Reluctant Retiree: The first scene has Santiago at his retirement dinner, fuming about being forced to retire and thinking how it will eventually happen to everyone else there. Later he applies for an accounting job at another company but is brusquely dismissed. Eventually he takes a part-time job as a security guard.
- Romantic Rain: Angelina and Santiago's first kiss is immediately followed by thunder and rain. The rain is then followed by the two of them having sex after getting out of soaked clothes.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: A rather over-the-top sexy discretion shot has the film cut to a White Stallion snorting and charging in the front yard as Angelina and Santiago have sex inside.
- Stealth Insult: Santiago, who is an extremely Reluctant Retiree, tells the guest at his dinner that his experiences with them allows him to "remember you as you deserve." There's a Beat before everybody decides to applause.
- The Stinger: A post-credits scene shows the crew of the movie getting out of a truck, with a caption stating the film was an all-Puerto Rico production.
