Perras 2011

Inside a private secondary school, a classroom is sealed off as police prepare to interrogate a group of girls who are all suspects in a shocking incident that has just unfolded. The mood is tense, and the atmosphere is heavy with accusation and fear.

The film opens with the initial narrator quietly sitting at the back of the room, separated from the others who barely acknowledge her presence. As the minutes stretch, the quiet moment deepens into a chorus of memories, feelings, and stories. Through these vignettes, the connections between the girls begin to reveal themselves, piece by piece, until a larger pattern emerges.

The heart of the story centers on Claudia Zepeda’s María del Mar and Scarlet Dergal’s Sofía, two friends whose opposite temperaments somehow choreograph a powerful bond. María is introverted and cautious, while Sofía lives with a reckless, free-spirited energy. Over time, this friendship pulls María toward Sofía’s world, until she makes a choice that will echo through the events to come. As their relationship deepens, María becomes entangled in a dangerous situation when she agrees to a sexual encounter with Sofía’s father, a decision that will set off a chain of consequences none of them could have anticipated.

The narrative moves from memory to memory, and soon it becomes clear that María’s story spirals toward a desperate act. She seeks to terminate the pregnancy in the school bathroom, and the attempt ends in tragedy, with María dying from blood loss. Yet the most startling twist is not the act itself but what it reveals: María has been dead from the start, and the voice guiding the tale belongs to her memory. This memory does not fade; it directs the story toward Diana, portrayed by Andrea Pedrero, a blind girl whose unique perception allows her to “spot” María’s presence in the room and keep the truth in view.

As the truth unravels, the film builds a claustrophobic, interrogative atmosphere. One girl is seen fleeing in panic from the area around the corpse, and it remains ambiguous whether she had merely found the body or helped to bring about the tragedy. The lines between memory and reality blur as the girls’ intertwined fates come into sharper focus, and the audience is left to consider responsibility, memory, and the ways a single moment can redefine a life and a classroom full of futures.

Throughout the intertwining testimonies, the ensemble of characters, including Karen de la Hoya as Tora, Steph Bumelcrownd as Iris, Claudia Zepeda as María del Mar, Alenka Ríos as Ana Ceci, Scarlet Dergal as Sofía, Andrea Pedrero as Diana, Kariam Castro as Andrea, Eva Luna Marenco as Frida, Denis Montes as Alejandra, and Natalia Zurita as Patricia, all contribute to a narrative that is at once intimate and unsettling. The result is a careful, lucid exploration of adolescence under pressure, the weight of secrets, and the fragile line between memory and truth.