Prayers for the Stolen

The documentarian Tatiana Huezo extends her range with a superbly acted study of children living in rural Mexico.

This is a film which never raises its voice and yet speaks with overwhelming power. It was made by Tatiana Huezo who was born in El Salvador but moved to Mexico at an early age and it was there that she established her career as a documentarian creating both shorts and features that have won her acclaim. However, she moves into new territory with Prayers for the Stolen since, drawing on a novel by Jennifer Clement for its basic inspiration, this is a work using actors and with a screenplay by Huezo herself. Splendidly cast and with performances that feel wholly unforced and real, the film is a triumph for Huezo in her new role.

Prayers for the Stolen has a rural setting, a small town in the Mexican mountains, and life there is seen through the eyes of a girl named Ana. The first section of the work portrays her at the age of eight alongside her primary school friends María and Paula. Since her father has gone to America – seemingly to support the family by working there although no money actually arrives – Ana is being brought up by her mother, Rita. This is all established during the first third of the film after which there is a sudden, rather abrupt, time jump. The story is then taken up again five years later. Very little has changed although there is now an enthusiastic young teacher, Leonardo, at the school (all three girls find him attractive) and we see more of María's brother Margarito who attains a swagger by riding a bull at a jaripeo but who is also getting drawn into working for the cartels.

The existence of drug cartels with huge power in the area is a key factor here, as is the threat that the local girls face due to the human trafficking that goes on (it’s an accepted fact in this community that young girls should have their hair cut short so that they look more like boys). Yet another menace is the illegal crop spraying done to encourage the poppy harvest since it involves the use of a pesticide dangerous to those out of doors when helicopters perform the task. Because the film adopts young Ana’s viewpoint, we get no detailed discussion of these issues which are such a menace to any normal existence. Nevertheless, Huezo, aided by sensitive use of natural sounds and by her very discreet application of music, makes us feel the menace that Ana feels. Indeed, all the children are wonderfully convincing with casting that readily enables us not to question the change-overs that come when the time jumps bring in new players. There are too many youngsters involved to identify them all, but I should mention the two Anas, both Ana Cristina Ordóñez González and Marya Membreño who takes over from her. The adult players are fine too, with Mayra Batalla particularly impressive as Ana's mother.

Before seeing the film, I had been told that the second section was not as telling as the first and I have to admit that it is less strong, but it is still effective. What it lacks is the extra impact that had been found in Huezo’s completely convincing attempt to show us this disturbing world through the eyes of an eight-year-old. That is achieved without a single false note and the sense of absolute authenticity owes at least some debt to Huezo’s experience as a documentarian with an acute eye. The standard set is so high that, lacking the same degree of individuality, the later scenes cannot match them, but they are shown up only by the remarkable quality of the film’s first third. That Prayers for the Stolen deserves to be highly recommended is never in doubt.

Original title: Noche de fuego.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Mayra Batalla, Ana Cristina Ordóñez González, Marya Membreño, Blanca Itzel Pérez, Camila Gaal, Giselle Barrera Sánchez, Alejandra Camacho, José Estrada, Julián Guzmán Girón, Memo Villegas, Norma Pablo, Olivia Lagunas, Teresa Sánchez.

Dir Tatiana Huezo, Pro Nicolás Celis and Jim Stark, Screenplay Tatiana Huezo, from the novel by Jennifer Clement, Ph Dariela Ludlow, Pro Des Oscar Tello, Ed Miguel Schverdfinger, Music Jacobo Lieberman and Leonardo Heiblum, Costumes Ürsula Schneider Nuñez.

Pimienta films/Match Factory Productions/Bord Cadre Films-Mubi.
110 mins. Mexico/Brazil/Germany/Switzerland/USA/Argentina/France/The Netherlands/Qatar. 2021. UK Rel: 8 April 2022. Cert. 15.