Children orphaned by the escalating cartel problems in a Mexican town attempt to survive on the streets and maintain some sort of family dynamic forged in shared loss. Into their group comes Estrella, a young girl whose mom has recently vanished. Small hints of fairytale make their way into the bleak reality as the child’s perspective of the completely fucked up world can’t help but take the dominant view. Three wishes granted to Estrella during a school lesson interrupted by gun violence serve as a focal point to most of the supernatural shenanigans that play out during the very real dangers of the kids predicament. Her first wish of wanting her mom to return leads to a spectral presence (And might I say, a wonderfully terrifying one at that) following her, demanding some kind of justice. Shine, the leader of the gang of boys has caused further problems by stealing a phone from one of the narcos which contains video evidence of the gang leader (El Chino) and political hopeful, committing murder. There’s more tragedy on the way as El Chino does all he can to get his hands on that damn phone. Shine struggles with his own leadership role, still hanging on to an innocence which should have long been ripped away and not being able to bring himself to sink to the level of his tormentors. It all combines together to make for one riveting, heartbreaking and somehow optimistic look at a dire situation. The horror (as in genre) aspects are used sparingly and effectively throughout. A masterpiece.
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