Based on real events, this tale of Mexican poverty refuses to lapse into sensation or melodrama. That said, Maryse Sistach never quite exposes us to the true horror of the urban decay that prompts a teenager to sell his stepsister to a bus driver for sex.
Resentful of her mother's remarriage, Ximena Ayala is a ticking timebomb. But the hope promised by her relationship with Nancy Gutiurrez is undermined both by her rape and the disapproval of her friend's mother, whose hostility ultimately leads to tragedy. Ayala conveys the wounded bewilderment of a teen who's survived loveless domestic deprivation well, but is floored by the prospect of rejection by a soulmate whom she thoughtlessly hurts with her shoplifting and casual flirting. Unfortunately, some of the performances around her are more formulaic.