Carlota Pereda gives us a delicious revenge movie that expands the story from her 2018 short film.

Sara (Laura Galán reprising her role from the short film Cerdita (2018)) is relentlessly bullied in her small town. She is heavy-set and works with her parents in their butchery so being called ‘piggy’ is the favourite insult, particularly from her peers, bitchy Maca (Claudia Salas), Roci (Camille Aguilar) and former friend Claudia (Irene Ferreiro).

While visiting the local swimming pool after she thinks everyone has gone, the three girls harass her and steal her clothes and bag. A man at the pool, a stranger or ‘desconocido’ (Richard Holmes), intervenes and this sets Sara on a long and bloody journey where she must find her voice and stand up for herself.

I won’t tell you anything more about the plot as it’s a story that unfolds without you really knowing where it is going. The stranger might be friend or foe, Sara’s parents might be the cause of her problems or her only allies, former friend Claudia may be redeemable or not. Pereda makes the hot summer and small town toxicity palpable and doesn’t shy away from making Sara not always likeable.

The power, for me, was in her transformation from mute to vocal, from perennial victim to someone who takes action.

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