Prayers for the Stolen: Film Review
Another day, another International Feature Film contender! In addition to Compartment No. 6 this week, we also have the release of Prayers for the Stolen, Mexico’s official submission for the Oscars (it made the longlist).
The film follows the lives of three young girls – Ana (Ana Cristina Ordóñez González and Marya Membreño), Paula (Camila Gaal and Alejandra Camacho) and Maria (Blanca Itzel Pérez and Giselle Barrera Sánchez) – as they grow up in the rural mountain village of Guerrero, where the main source of employment is extracting latex from opium poppies. Guerrero is a dangerous place to live – the threat of drug cartels and human traffickers is ever-present and young girls are always at risk of being stolen.
This sounds incredibly heavy but it’s thankfully not. Tatiana Huezo, making her feature directorial debut, tells her story from the girls’ perspective and they aren’t completely aware of what’s going on around them. We mostly just watch them play, go to school and do chores – although these activities are occasionally interrupted by gunfire, for example, and we are once again reminded this isn’t a normal place to live. Not much happens for a large portion of the film and I didn’t mind for a while as I liked watching their lovely friendship but the pacing lagged slightly in the middle and I felt ready for more to take place.
The film is really subtle so you have to pay attention to pick up the clues and figure out what’s going on, particularly in the children’s section. The girls get more clued-up about their situation as they grow older so it becomes more interesting once the actors switch from the child versions of the characters to the adolescent. The camera tracks the girls and Ana’s mother Rita (Mayra Batalla) so we don’t see much of the danger that goes on around them but the threat starts to loom larger over the village towards the end and results in a heartbreaking conclusion.
All six of the child actors are brilliant – they are so natural with their performances and seemed so comfortable on camera. It didn’t feel like they were acting at all. Batalla as Rita is impressive as the stressed mother who is trying to protect her daughter by herself while her husband is away. Her performance makes you appreciate how resilient you have to be to live in such a dangerous place.
Prayers for the Stolen isn’t perfect but it tells an eye-opening story in a really intriguing way and the conclusion hit me hard.
In selected cinemas from Friday 8th April