Prayers for the Stolen

"Find the light in the darkness."

2021 1h 50m ES

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 199

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Find the light in the darkness.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Ana Cristina Ordóñez
Ana (niña)
Marya Membreño
Ana (adolescente)
Blanca Itzel Pérez
María (niña)
Giselle Barrera Sánchez
María (adolescente)
Camila Gaal
Paula (niña)
Alejandra Camacho
Paula (adolescente)
Mayra Batalla
Rita
José Estrada
Margarito (niño)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tatiana Huezo
Writers: Tatiana Huezo
Languages: Spanish
Countries: Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, United States of America, Argentina

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 6 countries: Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, United States of America, Argentina.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tatiana Huezo, shot by Dariela Ludlow Deloya. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jacobo Lieberman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Miguel Schverdfinger shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ana Cristina Ordóñez and Marya Membreño and Blanca Itzel Pérez carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Find the light in the darkness.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt10366574 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tatiana Huezo directs. Dariela Ludlow Deloya behind the camera. Jacobo Lieberman scores. Miguel Schverdfinger cuts. Produced in Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, United States of America, Argentina. Dialogue in Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 5 years ago.
2International production across 6 countries: Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, United States of America, Argentina.
3Directed by Tatiana Huezo, shot by Dariela Ludlow Deloya. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Jacobo Lieberman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Miguel Schverdfinger shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Ana Cristina Ordóñez and Marya Membreño and Blanca Itzel Pérez carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Find the light in the darkness.".
8IMDB entry: tt10366574 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Dariela Ludlow Deloya
Original score: Jacobo Lieberman
Editing: Miguel Schverdfinger
Production design: Oscar Tello
Costume design: Ursula Schneider
Sound: Lena Esquenazi
Runtime: 110 min · 1h 50m
Status: Released
Original language: ES
IMDB: Prayers for the Stolen (2021)

Awards

Forqué Award for Best Latin-American Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Tatiana Huezo

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

badelf2023-02-12
★ 7/10
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.
CinemaSerf2024-04-16
★ 7/10
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.