Poison for the Fairies

Mexico City in 1965 and two schoolmates: Flavia, wealthy and lonely, and Verónica, an orphan obsessed with stories about witchcraft. Verónica convinces Flavia that she is a real witch, and the friendship converts quickly into an arrangement of control. Carlos Enrique Taboada's central choice is what holds the film up: the faces of adults are never shown. The camera stays at child height throughout, so grown ups exist as voices and partial bodies. The effect is that nobody in this world can actually intervene, and the fear comes not from the supernatural but from how far away help is. There is no monster and no effect anywhere in it. The threat is one child's power over another. The demand is patience. It moves slowly, holds long silences, and works only by accumulation. The ending is hard and does not leave you. Who it is for: viewers who love psychological horror and the classics of Mexican cinema. Who it is not for: anyone wanting fast, showy scares.