RITA is a dark fantasy based on the true story behind one of Guatemala’s most harrowing tragedies.
After fleeing a neglectful household to escape her abusive father, 13-year-old Rita (Giuliana Santa Cruz) is placed in a tyrannical state-run orphanage. Her arrival provides a glimmer of hope to the seemingly magical group of girls inside, who share a prophecy that an angel will appear to release them.
Encouraged by one another, the girls plan an escape to claim their freedom and expose the orphanage’s abuses of power. Based on the true story behind one of Guatemala’s most harrowing tragedies, Rita shines a light on the brave orphans whose fight for survival inspired a nationwide outcry for justice and reform.
Now showing on Shudder, the film was written and directed by Jayro Bustamante, the man behind La Llorona, a bewitching folk horror filled with searing political commentary, which was inspired by the real-life indictment of Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt for crimes against humanity.
Rita is an equally gripping film, with violent, dramatic and supernatural elements. Bustamante mixes dark fantasy and harrowing reality to strike a real emotional chord as viewers are lured into the horror that lurks in every corner of this supposed safe house.
Young and innocent children who have already glimpsed the worst of humanity in their own homes are now no safer in this state-run institution where they are preyed upon by corrupt guards, day and night. Unwanted and unloved, they form an unbreakable bond in their determination to break the shackles that bind them.
Despite the real horror at the film’s core, it is the vivid otherworldly nuances that turn this into something much more captivating and hopeful. It comes off like a cross between Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth and The City of Lost Children by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
This is a truly beautiful and haunting film that will stay with you.
(4/5)
