I'm writing first to correct either a misimpression or ambiguous wording in another review:

This film is *not* a true story. What perhaps was meant was that real life wound up mirroring this fiction, which in turn mirrored real life. But the film characters and plot are fiction.

Which doesn't keep it from feeling viscerally real and kept me in anticipation (on-edge-of-seat-like) throughout, hoping that this was the kind of directorial flair for suspense that engages one's nervous system but eventually finds a release. This one, not so much.

The film puts us in the skin of two characters. The grieving mother in midlife crisis of faith - in self, in marriage, in work - powerfully conveys the paralysis of simultaneously reliving a life she couldn't save, capturing the haunting trauma of a bereft parent untethered. We see her give lip service to various strategies or tactics for recovery from grief's paralysis, to no avail, including an isolation that makes her coldly rebuff the approaches of the young teenager who becomes the second lead in the film.

He lives even more complex and fraught a hidden life than she does, but after multiple attempts to ensnare her interest, it's the first violence in the plot that brings them together, both of them initially wary of the other - in differing regards.

While I applaud the acting and realism of the plotline in each of the two converging stories makes the film unforgettable, the second key reason I write this piece is because of the spoilers I'm about to generalize by saying that the story ends tragically - in both the fiction and real life.

In the fictional story, there is a twist to the tragedy in that th woman who couldn't save her own son winds up saving a different child and his numerous siblings - at least for the immediate future. (Alas, not so in real life.)

It makes for a harrowing conclusion that affirms the sustained tension/suspense through the film was not gratuitous but rather a buildup that the final moments cap off accordingly. So this is to alert those who don't appreciate having films end on down notes.

In some ways, it reminded me of Pixote, a highly awarded Brazilian film back in 1980, telling also a very gritty reality with also a young male star where the story also ended grimly both on film and in real life. Such stories cry out to us all of the needs worldwide for putting more than lipservice to the treasuring of children.

It's a depressing, bleak movie without much sense or plot. The pace is extremely slow. It would benefit from about 30-40 minutes of hallway shots, sad faces, elevators, streets, and so on just being removed. We watched close to half of it before beginning to fast forward. It's also extremely predictable and the music is kind of annoyingly depressing. It is realistic and some of the acting is good but overall, it does not leave one with a lasting impression. The relationship of the woman to her ex is incomprehensible, and the highly improbably death of her child is difficult to believe, Overall, the protagonist seems stupid in the sense of being oblivious to danger and doing senseless things such as driving a mercedes into the ghetto... Which takes away from the believability of the whole thing.. I did not feel any compassion or emotion for the perpetually sad chain-smoking woman, but it was sad to know that the actor playing the boy had ben shot before the film was released.

At first, I was expecting something like a home invasion, but it was much more. Somewhere in the last act I was disappointed as things were rushed, but by the end when i got to know this is a true story it hit me hard, as it was fiction and i was drawn in.

I am aware that Central America has lot of untapped potential, there is no huge film scene or Cinematheques. I hardly remember watching movies coming from the region. I have been following the works of Jayro Bustamente, truly one of the best filmmakers working today. Then i remember watching Luis Argueta's El silencio de Neto/The Silence of Neto (1994) and couple of documentaries that had all the Oscar bait tropes. But one thing is certain, i feel after the Oscar nomination there will space for many more narrative films.

The plot of the film introduces us to Alicia (Ilse Salas ), an architect living alone with a sophisticated lifestyle. She is divorced, tormented by events from her turbulent past. She lives alone, all by herself and passes everything through herself, sometimes looked as if she had not slept for days battling her internal conflicts. Then Chief (Fernando Xavier De Casta) enters, a 13-year-old street urchin () running some errands for local thugs, ushering cars to parking places in front of Plaza Cathedral. He insists to help Alicia to park her car, but she turns it down and slowly they both start to get along as she gives him space with limited restrictions. She begins to care for him, sometimes argue, share light moment and even drink together. Chief's scars begins to take a toll on Alicia's psyche and then you yourself will begin to doubt - the film jumps from drama, to home invasion thriller, reflecting the socio economic reality. After all, these theme is seen repeatedly in the film till the pre-credits homage. I want to register that this film does not glamorize its subject matter like many poverty fetish glorification documentaries. This strikes a balance despite the hurried last act, i loved the film and might be the same experience depending on what you make of it. Regardless, this is one of the year's most unsettling and also one of the year's best film.