JP Nunez
I first got wind of Rita a few months ago, and ever since then, it’s been near the top of my to-watch list. In fact, I was dying to see this film before I knew anything about the plot. I heard it was made by the guy who directed and co-wrote the 2019 gem La Llorona, and that was enough for me. I was confident this would be another hard-hitting horror banger, so when I finally got the chance to review it, I couldn’t say no.
Rita was written and directed by Jayro Bustamante, and it stars Giuliana Santa Cruz, Alejandra Vasquez, Ángela Quevedo, Isabel Aldana, Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kénefic, and Maria Telón. In the film, the titular Rita is a 13-year-old who’s been placed in a state-run orphanage for girls after fleeing from her abusive parents, and upon arrival, she learns that this is no ordinary orphanage. The girls there seem to have magical powers, and after a bit of a rocky start, Rita begins to find her place among them.
She forges tight bonds with her fellow orphans, but this place isn’t all cupcakes and roses. The guards abuse their power and mistreat the girls in absolutely loathsome ways, so these poor kids have been planning an escape for some time. And now, with the arrival of a new girl, that plan is about to come to fruition. Rita helps her friends launch their daring getaway from this hell on earth, and…well, you’ll just have to watch the movie to see how it all turns out.
With a plot synopsis like that, I’m sure you can tell that Rita deals with some pretty heavy themes, but you might not know that the film is based on a true story. Back in 2017, a fire broke out in a Guatemalan state protection home, and 56 girls were burned. Sadly, only 15 of them survived, and to this day the state has never acknowledged its responsibility for this tragedy. What’s more, since 2013, there had been reports of sexual abuse and human trafficking within that home, so it was just a horrible place all around.
Rita is Jayro Bustamante’s attempt at raising awareness of this disaster and the similar abuses that still occur in many so-called safe homes, and if you ask me, he did a wonderful job. Let’s start with the girls. The movie gives us ample time to get to know them, and for me, the experience is a bit reminiscent of Tod Browning’s Freaks.
Despite the offensive title, that classic chiller is primarily concerned with humanizing its disabled carnival performers, and Rita takes a similar approach. While the magical girls may initially come across as a bit odd or even a little spooky, you’ll soon realize that they’re not much different from anybody else. They’re just kids who want to be happy, and their sisterly bonds are genuinely heartwarming.
In contrast, the guards at the orphanage are utterly despicable. They show absolutely no concern for the girls’ well-being, and when the kids misbehave, they treat them like prisoners. They even have tasers to subdue the rowdy ones, and they show no qualms about using them. The whole situation is legitimately maddening, but what truly makes these people the lowest of the low is their sexual abuse of Rita and her friends.
These are grown men and women taking advantage of vulnerable teenagers who’ve already endured horrific abuse, so if there’s even an ounce of compassion within you, they will make your blood boil. Your hatred of them will endear you to the orphans even more, so you’ll be all in on the girls’ struggle for freedom from these disgusting oppressors.
That struggle is the heart and soul of Rita, but it’s not the only thing this film does well. It also does an excellent job of incorporating its fantastical elements into this all-too-real story. As I said before, the girls at this orphanage appear to have magical abilities, but the truth isn’t entirely clear.
For instance, Rita gets placed in a room with girls who wear angel wings on their backs, and for much of the movie’s runtime, you’re not quite sure if these wings are real or just a costume. They look like they could be fake, but surprisingly, the girls never take them off (and I mean never). Along similar lines, there’s another group that wears muzzles on their faces and acts a bit like dogs, but again, it’s tough to say what their deal really is.
Eventually, Rita lets us know that at least some of this magic is real, but even then, it still maintains an air of ambiguity. By and large, none of the characters bat an eye at these odd and fantastical elements, so aside from a few clear exceptions, you don’t know what’s genuinely supernatural and what’s just for show.
It all blends together so seamlessly that it almost doesn’t matter where the line between reality and fantasy truly lies, and the way I see it, that makes this world even more magical. It means that the supernatural is potentially anywhere and everywhere, and for a huge fantasy fan like me, that idea is just about irresistible.
In case you couldn’t tell, I had an amazing time with Rita. It’s a gut-wrenchingly beautiful story that sheds light on a real-world tragedy as well as an ongoing issue we should all be concerned about, and the fantastical elements are the spoonful of sugar that makes it go down a bit more easily. With this and La Llorona under his belt, Jayro Bustamante has become a bona fide genre star, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Rita is set to hit Shudder on November 22.
