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(There are some fabulous shots of their chalky faces the film as a whole is exquisitely photographed by Dariela Ludlow.) The few men in the village work at a local mining operation. Most of the women toil in the poppy fields. She shrewdly avoids the typical Cartel narratives in favor of showing the quotidian lives of the innocent people affected by drug operations in the region. Huezo is showcasing the dignity of these people who are often not depicted as fully realized characters on screen. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. There is a nice moment where the students learn to "see things differently" - as when Paula figures out an assignment given by their kindly teacher, Leonardo (Memo Villegas).
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They attend school in a single classroom, but teachers come and go because the area is so dangerous. They still have short haircuts, but with their developing bodies, they look less like boys. (There is little to no on-screen violence.)Īround the midpoint, Ana, María, and Paula become teenagers, and are played by Mayra Membreño, Giselle Barrera Sánchez, and Alejandra Camacho, respectively. "Prayers for the Stolen," has only a handful of tense moments, such as a duck-and-cover sequences when gunfire erupts in the street. But it also means the film can be a bit slow at times. The film, Mexico's Oscar submission for Best International Feature, is largely plotless, which allows viewers to observe the daily lives of the characters. (An uncomfortable episode, late in the film, has a character covered in the toxic chemicals.) But mostly Huezo's approach is to provide tender, episodic scenes of the three female friends at school, at play, and at home. Early on a young girl goes missing, and there is repeated talk about poison being sprayed in the area.
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Although not much happens as she chronicles the characters' lives, a palpable threat of danger hangs over almost every scene. Writer/director Tatiana Huezo, working from Jennifer Clement's novel, makes a poetic feature debut here (having helmed some shorts and documentaries in the past). RELATED: "A Cop Movie" director: "Being a cop involves performance. Ana cries during this life-changing moment, but it is for her own protection. After Ana is caught using makeup, a worried Rita takes Ana for a haircut to make her appear more like a boy. Rita wants to keep her daughter safe, so they create this hiding spot should anyone come looking for Ana.Īna spends much of her time with her best friends, Paula (Camila Gaal), who is vulnerable to capture, and María (Blanca Itzel Pérez), who is not (she has a pronounced cleft lip). Young women in this rural Mexican village are often kidnapped by members of the local cartels who raid houses looking for young, attractive girls. The opening scene of Netflix's poignant drama "Prayers for the Stolen" has Rita (Mayra Batalla) and her pre-teen daughter, Ana (Ana Cristina Ordóñez González), digging a shallow grave in their yard with their hands.