Drama

Prayers for the Stolen

- Find the light in the darkness.

Ana and her two best friends, Maria and Paula, navigate life in their oppressive countryside village. Whilst their families struggle in the poppy fields harvesting opium, the girls try to grow alongside the creeping terror of their cartel oppressors.

Release Date : 2021-09-16

Language :Spanish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Pimienta FilmsThe Match FactoryLouverture FilmsJaque ContentDesvia ProduçõesCactus Film & VideoBord Cadre FilmsZDFARTEHubert Bals Fund

Production Country : ArgentinaBrazilGermanyMexicoSwitzerlandUnited States of AmericaFranceNetherlands

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Ana (niña)

Original Name : Ana Cristina Ordóñez

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ana (adolescente)

Original Name : Mayra Membreño

Gender : Male

Character Name : María (niña)

Original Name : Blanca Itzel Pérez

Gender : Male

Character Name : María (adolescente)

Original Name : Giselle Barrera Sánchez

Gender : Male

Character Name : Paula (niña)

Original Name : Camila Gaal

Gender : Male

Character Name : Paula (adolescente)

Original Name : Alejandra Camacho

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rita

Original Name : Mayra Batalla

Gender : Female

Character Name : Margarito (niño)

Original Name : José Estrada

Gender : Male

Character Name : Margarito (adolescente)

Original Name : Julián Guzmán Girón

Gender : Male

Character Name : Luz

Original Name : Norma Pablo

Gender : Female

Character Name : Profesor Leonardo

Original Name : Guillermo Villegas

Gender : Male

Character Name : Concha

Original Name : Eileen Yañez

Gender : Female

Character Name : Maestro

Original Name : David Illescas

Gender : Male

Character Name : Elena

Original Name : Teresa Sánchez

Gender : Female

Character Name : Artemia

Original Name : Gabriela Núñez

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doctora

Original Name : Daniela Arroio Sandoval

Gender : Male

Character Name : Minero Joven

Original Name : Tiago Sann

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joel

Original Name : Andrés Chavero Medina

Gender : Male

Character Name : Josefina

Original Name : Nohelia Moreno Álvarez

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hombre Narco 1

Original Name : Edson Martínez

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hombre Narco 2

Original Name : Alejandro Martínez Castillo

Gender : Male

Character Name : Zulma

Original Name : Olivia Lagunas

Gender : Male

Character Name : Soldado Joven

Original Name : Edilberto Medina

Gender : Male

Reviews

badelf

@badelf

2023-02-12

It seems like the English title was created just to pull at the heart strings - That was totally unnecessary. The acting is really impressive. We've spent a huge amount of time in Mexico (due to the pandemic). This story is a truth in some areas of Mexico. It is a heart-breaking, real-life, horror story. It is a fact that some villagers do not escape this horror.

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-04-16

Yikes but this is quite a difficult film to watch. It's centred around three teenage girls who live amidst the poppy fields of Mexico. "Ana" (Maria Membreño) "Paula" (Alejandro Camacho) and "Maria" (Giselle Barrera Sánchez) try to live their lives as normally as they can, but the fact that their school teacher is leaving because he won't pay protection money to the drug pedlars gives us some indication of the society in which they live. Indeed, it's this teacher who raises the issue of a missing girl - and that enlightens us to the fact that once they reach a certain age, these young women have other "uses" and nobody dares speak out about it. The chronology flits between the current life of these three and their younger childhood and illustrates that for them, there is little hope of change unless they are prepared to leave - but that they don't want to do with out each other or their mothers (the fathers don't feature at all in this drama). The rather courageous role of motherhood is really well exemplified by Mayra Batalla's contribution as "Rita". A woman who treats her daughters first menstruation with a dread that the young girl does not yet appreciate the significance of. It's a beautifully photographed vicious circle, with the emphasis on vicious. There are attempts at government interventions, local troops stationed and helicopters depositing toxins on the flowers, but the thrust here from director Tatiana Huezo is of a cycle of depressing and dangerous inevitability that it is difficult to see a way out of. The three young actors perform evocatively here offering us quite emotional and poignant characterisations. They are not simply going to give up - but it's not that simple. Harrowing, yes, but it's clearly been written and presented offering hope for the girls and to raise some awareness of the fact that as long as the West keeps buying the stuff, these people will live in a modern day slavery that turns your stomach.