The Desert Within

In 1920s rural Mexico, a man accidentally causes the death of his wife and every other member of his village. Left hysterical with guilt, God ‘tells’ him that he and his children have been left alive to atone for his sins, but he will have to watch all of his children die as punishment. Isolating them from society in the desert, he slowly drives each of his children over the edge with extreme delusions of penance. Atheism is a subject rarely dealt with so directly, and coming from such a heavily Catholic country this is an extremely controversial and brave piece. Beautifully shot, tightly scripted, and extremely well acted by all, it’s a well crafted polemic of national Catholicism and religion in general. But it’s so heavy handed with its single minded agenda that it’s hard to recommend it as entertainment rather than effective propaganda.