A dark fantasy about resilience in a girl’s juvenile detention center from a Guatemalan auteur.
When 13-year-old Rita runs away from home in an attempt to escape her abusive father, she ends up in a state-run institution for troubled girls in Guatemala City. It’s a place somehow even worse than the one she fled, filled with violence and assault. There, Rita finds herself at the center of an uprising by the seemingly-magical groups of girls who reside there, and are sick of being exploited.
Inspired by a tragic true story, Rita is a harrowing fairytale reminiscent of early Guillermo del Toro, acting as both a stark condemnation of a broken, unjust system and a powerful tribute to the resilience, strength, and humanity of this story’s real-life inspirations.
From Director Jayro Bustamante (La Llorona, on Criterion). More details & tickets
Guatemala / 2024 / 1 hr 47 mins
In Spanish with English subtitles
Content Warnings: discussion of and attempted sexual assault of minors, violence, child abuse, child sex trafficking, discussions of abortions, immolation
PRECEDED BY
Coléoptère
Grégoire Samsa is a solitary building caretaker who undergoes a dramatic physical and psychological transformation while seeking love and acceptance.
France / 2023 / 15 mins
In French with English subtitles
Content Warnings: violence, domestic abuse, goo, blood, body horror
