Sujo

Sujo is orphaned when his assassin father is murdered by his own cartel. Even though he’s only four, the boy is considered a liability, and the cartel orders his death to ensure there’ll be no reprisals to worry about in the future. But young Sujo is protected by his aunt, growing up in the isolated countryside. The spectre of the cartel is never far away, however: Sujo reaches his teens and is tempted to join the local cartel, and even when he moves to the city, the world of violent criminality is never far away. Will he be drawn back to the life his father lived and died for? Directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez create visually distinctive chapters as they tell this complex and immersive story. Comparisons to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood have been made, and the films are similar not only in that both follow the main character over many years, but also in the extreme empathy and concern each character elicits from the audience. As Rondero and Valadez put it: “In the end, the whole film is a portrait of this young man, Sujo. A portrait but also a promise of the man he deserves to be.”