Rita is the fourth feature film by director Jayro Bustamante following his insult trilogy. Similar to those films, Rita fictionalizes a true story, in this case, the tragedy of the Virgen de la Asunción Safe House in Guatemala that took the lives of 41 girls on March 8th of 2017.
Rita tells the story of a 13 year old girl who is sent to a safe house after she escapes her home due to the abuse she endures at the hands of her father. The cinematography of the movie is one of it's most impactful aspects. The visual aesthetic is noticeable from the first frames. The road to the safe house shows imagery that evokes The Shining by Stanley Kubrick, showing the car from above, and the safe house imposing itself in the background as a sort of fortress where we have no idea what kind of things happen inside of its premises.
It's no surprise that the cinematography was awarded at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, where the film had its international premiere on July 25th. You can see how Jayro Bustamante's direction has evolved, to the point where the composition of the takes and the frames hace a clear intention. One scene that stands out is when an interrogation takes place and a ring light is used to frame the faces of some of the characters on the screen.
From the beginning, Rita prefaces her story by telling us that she will recount the facts in the way she prefers to remember them, which I thought was a clever way to incorporate the magical element without it feeling forced or to avoid the raw nature of the incident. By making the audience aware that we're going to see the story through Rita's eyes, Bustamante manages to transport us to a sort of alternate reality where she feels comfortable to let us into her darkness. In a way, there's an influence of other Latin American filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón, whose films Pan's Labyrinth and A Little Princess, respectively, also tell the story through girl protagonists who use fantasy to cope with difficult life situations.
Once Rita gets to the home, the world-building begins and we're introduced to the girls who are divided into clans. Rita belongs to the angels, and the rest consist of the wolves, the princesses, the rainbows, the bunnies and the stars. In the context of the story, the angels are the main clan, while the other groups, with the exception of the stars, have a minor role that doesn't contribute too much to the development of the plot. Social media advertisements wanted to give much more relevance to the clans that they actually have in the final product. Let's take the princesses as an example. Publicity videos defined them as "prime warriors who are first in line whenever there are problems and whose mission is to protect the others", but this is not reflected in the movie.
The cast consists mostly of actresses who are making their big screen debut and who lived together while taking acting classes in preparation for the film. Rita is played by Giuliana Santa Cruz, who does a commendable job playing the title character, however, as it is the case with most people who are starring in a movie for the first time, there are scenes where the dialogues feel rehearsed or as if the script was being read. One scene in particular where Rita is recounting the abuse she has suffered didn't channel the emotion I would expect from a character who is talking about such triggering topics. This could also not be entirely the actress's fault, as it could also be related to the directing or how the scene was written. On the other hand, Ángela Quevedo, who plays Sulmy, and Isabel Aldana, who plays La Terca were the ones whose performances I was most pressed with.
The adult cast is the one I had the most issues with. I understand the convenience of using the same actors in multiple projects. Legendary filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman were famous for repeating ensembles again and again, but it would've been more beneficial for this film to cast someone other than Sabrina de la Hoz in the role of La Monitora. I could not gather any interesting nuances from her performance. The role is some sort of villain who at some points in the story does appear to be morally conflicted by what's happening. The character had more potential but Sabrina de la Hoz falls short, something I also felt with her performance in La Llorona.
Margarita Kenéfic is perhaps the most emblematic villain in the cast as La Bruja. The body language and physicality she plays the role with expresses very well why a child would see her in such an imposing and creepy way. Juan Pablo Olyslager, who previously starred in Temblores, plays El Jefe. I don't have much to say about his performance. He did what he had to do. The rest of adult actors, mostly, play cops or people who seek to traffic the girls. The one who steals the movie, despite having minimal screen time, is María Telón, who has been in every Jayro Bustamante feature since Ixcanul. Telón wastes no seconds and the bond between her character, Celia, and Rita is one of the most believable aspects of the story.
Despite the magic, Rita does contain strong reference to sexual abuse and sex trafficking. Some more explicit than others, therefore, I would not recommend this movie to children, unless their parents feel comfortable explaining to them what is happening. For example, in a scene one of the girls is trapped in a net and dragged by cops out of the room, implying sexual abuse, but as the story progresses, the script starts to describe these actions as what they are, rape. Blood can also be seen in some scenes, and while not excessive, it is present.
Finally, Rita is a call to conscience. A way in which Guatemala is given platforms so that tragedies like the one that happened at the safe house are known internationally and are not forgotten. One of the most troublesome traits about Guatemalans is our short historic memory. Similarly, systemic oppression allows these crimes to remain unpunished. The movie is a criticism against the system that has contributed to this ongoing issue, since it displays perfectly how the police, who are supposed to protect the people, can end up being one of its most prominent enemies. It's impossible to trust the police and I'm glad there's a film that shows that.
