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‘Rita’ Review: A Real-Life Guatemalan Tragedy Is Exposed in a Devastating Dark Fantasy About Young Girls in an Abusive System
'Rita' is releasing to Shudder and serves as Guatemala's official submission for the international feature category at the Oscars.
With “ Rita,” Guatemala’s entry for the international feature Oscar (Bustamante’s third time representing the country), he returns to this mode for a gritty, dark fantasy based on an unspeakable 2017 tragedy involving young girls placed in a government-run shelter, which remains unpunished today. Consistently a film of stark beauty, “Rita” exhibits a sometimes dreamlike, sometimes nightmarish quality that cinematographer Inti Briones mines from the contrast between the fairytale attires and the harshness of the setting, aided by elements of production design as well as some digital effects. Oscillating between fury and vulnerability, playing a survivor whose sole objective is rescuing her younger sister from experiencing the same harm she has, Santa Cruz searingly projects the indelible hurt Rita carries behind her eyes.
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