Rita
It is supposed to be a centre for girls and young women to be cared for by the state, takenin for their protection when their own families, if they have any, are unable to do so; instead, it is more like a prison camp as thirteen-year-old Rita finds when she is discharged from hospital and delivered to the gates like an unwanted package and grudgingly received.
The girls split into factions, behaving like rival tribes, those dressed as angels coexisting beside the wild and muzzled forest people, Rita is not welcomed, attacked on her first night in the rudimentary accommodation and with no one to turn to, those in authority showing no interest in the welfare of their charges while the guards prey on the newcomers, a situation ready to burst into flame with the least provocation.
Written and directed by Jayro Bustamante, like his previous film La Llorona which blended the supernatural with the horror of the social conditions and corrupt politics of his native Guatemala, Rita stars Giuliana Santa Cruz in the title role as the girl who refuses to believe in the fairy tales from which she once took comfort but who still sees a fortress in the hills surrounded by monsters, some of which have penetrated the walls.
The ghostly shrouded figures which creep through the darkened corridors called “stars” by the other girls, named for the swarms of glowing sparks like fireflies or burning embers which follow them, the swift denial by the warden when Rita asks about them confirms she knows exactly of what she speaks, and not only can Rita see them in the shadows, she knows that they can see her too.
Bebé (Alejandra Vásquez Carrillo) who reads the cards and speaks of prophecies the first to make a move towards friendship, things are both better and worse than they seem; the other girls bruised her not out of cruelty but to mark her face to make her undesirable, delaying what they know will come when Wanda visits to take their photos in provocative poses, the underage girls a commodity to be bartered like any other.
A film without a single positive male role, at worst monsters, at best passively complicit in their refusal to intervene, any closed environment is inevitably reliant on the compliance and complacency of the herd, but foolishly looking to magic to protect them the hopes of children cannot stop the wilful cruelty of adults, and although the fires of rebellion will be lit Rita has already lost any belief in happy endings.
Rita will be available on Shudder from Friday 22nd November
