The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas

The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas

To dream of the american dream is easy, but it is difficult to cross Mexico.

Directed by Luis Mandoki

Produced by Churchill Toledo, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes

2012115 min7.2 / 10

A harrowing portrait of two young lovers destroyed by the brutal machinery of migration, trafficking, and gang violence at the Mexico-Guatemala border.

In the Mexican-Guatemalan border, young teenage lovers, Sabina and Jovany, both Hondurans, accidentally meet again after some years without seeing each other. She plans to get to the United States and dreams about being a great singer; he commits all the required atrocities to be accepted by the gang: la Mara Salvatrucha. Sabina and Jovany crashed with the most adverse conditions at the border like white slavery, the Mexican and American migratory agents Burrona and Patrick, the brothel matron Doña Lita, Don Nico the Mexican Consul in Tecún Umán, the drug trafficking networks, the army and la Mara Salvatrucha.

Questions people ask

  • Is The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas scary? Yes, very. More frightening than 99% of films.

  • Is The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas sad? Yes, very. More sad than 99% of films.

  • Is The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas violent? Yes, very. More violent than 95% of films.

  • Is The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas easy watching? No. Less comforting than 92% of films.

  • Does The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas end with hope? Barely. Less hopeful than 83% of films.

These describe how the film comes across, measured across the whole film and compared with other well-known films. They are not a content list — nothing here was counted or checked scene by scene, so for age-suitability or specific content use a classification board or a dedicated content-warning service.

74/ 100

Cinnamon Score

How much this film gives you that nothing else will, and whether it delivers.

Distinctly its own thing.

Rarity61

How unlike any other film this one feels

Surprise89

How much more it delivers than it promises

Love75

How much audiences actually like it

The highest scores in the catalogue →

Ensemble

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Same Mood as The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas

Nearest on what's most distinctive about this one.

Like The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas, But Darker

Similar, pushed toward heavier and more intense.

Like The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas, But Lighter

Similar, pushed toward warmer and easier.

Like The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas, But Less Popular

Same territory, far fewer people have seen it.

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