Prayers for the Stolen () is a 2021 Mexican drama film directed and written by Tatiana Huezo, which adapts Jennifer Clement's novel Prayers for the Stolen.
Plot Three girls- Ana, Paula, and Maria- come of age in San Miguel, Jalisco, a rural village terrorized by drug cartels. During the harvest season, many villagers work in the poppy fields for the cartels. Cartel violence has left the villagers with limited economic opportunity and access to education and medical care. Some, including Ana's father, have left the village and immigrated to try to find work and support their family.
Members of the cartels regularly rape and kidnap the women and children of the village. Rita, Ana's mother, digs a hole for Ana and from a young age teaches her to hide in it, to prevent her from being taken away. Rita and Ana go to a hillside to get cell service in order to call her father, but the call goes unanswered.
Ana stops by a neighbor's house on her way home and sees her crying and bloody after being sexually assaulted by a cartel member. The woman tells her to go home.
When her mother sees Ana wearing lipstick, Here she cuts her hair like a man. Ana then goes to the house of her friend Juana, who is rumored to have been kidnapped, and looks out the window. The parents listen to the teacher. He reports that the cartels are demanding immediate payment.
The movie makes a time jump and goes to about 5-6 years later. Ana is moved by what the teacher tells her and dreams of changing the existing order. Then the cartels come to get Ana. But Ana immediately hides. The movie closes with a truckload of people, including the girls, leaving the town.
Cast
Release In June 2021, the film was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, it won a Special Mention in the Un Certain Regard section.
The film was theatrically released in Mexico on 16 September 2021. In October 2021, it was disclosed to be the Mexican entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. Ultimately, it was not nominated. It began streaming on Netflix on 17 November 2021.
Reception Critical response Prayers for the Stolen has an approval rating of 96% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 56 reviews, and an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critical consensus states: "As absorbing as it is harrowing, Prayers for the Stolen observes life under the shadow of systemic violence with startling clarity".https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/prayers_for_the_stolen Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".https://www.metacritic.com/movie/prayers-for-the-stolen?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c
Awards and nominations Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Cannes Film Festival17 July 2021 Un Certain RegardTatiana Huezo Un Certain Regard - Special Mention San Sebastián International Film Festival25 September 2021 Horizontes LatinosPrayers for the Stolen RTVE Otra Mirada Award Forqué Awards 11 December 2021 Best Latin-American Film Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 18 December 2021 Next Generation Award Tatiana Huezo Palm Springs International Film Festival6 January 2022 Young Cineastes Award Tatiana Huezo FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film Prayers for the Stolen Best Ibero-American Film Independent Spirit Awards 6 March 2022 Best International Film Directors Guild of America Awards 12 March 2022 Outstanding First-Time Feature Film Director Tatiana Huezo Satellite Awards 2 April 2022 Best Foreign Language Film Prayers for the Stolen Platino Awards1 May 2022 Best Ibero-American Film Best Director Tatiana Huezo Best Supporting Actress Cristina Ordóñez González Ariel Awards11 October 2022 Best Picture Prayers for the Stolen Best Director Tatiana Huezo Best Actress Cristina Ordóñez González Best Supporting Actor Memo Villegas Best Supporting Actress Eileen Yáñez Mayra Batalla Norma Pablo Best Breakthrough Performance Alejandra Camacho Giselle Barrera Best Adapted Screenplay Tatiana Huezo Best Cinematography Dariela Ludlow Best Original Score Leonardo Heiblum and Jacobo Lieberman Best Editing Yibrán Asuad Best Costume Design Úrsula Schneider Best Art Design Oscar Tello Best Makeup Roberto Ortiz and Ana Robles Best Visual Effects Miguel de Hoyos Best Special Effects Ricardo Arvizu Jr. Best Sound Lena Esquenazi, Federico G. Jordan and Paulo Gama Goya Awards 11 February 2023 Best Ibero-American Film Prayers for the Stolen
See also List of submissions to the 94th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film List of Mexican submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
External links