In flashback, young Christina looks on at an exorcism being performed on her mother. Years later, American citizen Christina’s (Brigitte Kali Canales) career as a crusading newshawk lands her in Veracruz to investigate numerous reports of hocus-pocus-dominocus. It’s here in her hometown that she is kidnapped and held hostage by a group of locals who see in her the devil incarnate. A burlap sack is used to conceal the identities of her captors; her only visitor is a comic relief-adding rooster. She pounces on the chance to place a call to friend Miranda (Andrea Cortés) that lasts just long enough to trace its source. Miranda begins to smell of double-agent, able to promise her bestie’s release if and when an exorcism is performed. Her phone wasn’t the only item Christina swiped from her purse; stashed beneath her mattress was a heroin kit. The introduction of Christina’s addiction was, at first glance, a novel twist. The excitement lasted until the question arose: why she would inject the drug rather than use it to subdue her jailers? It eventually picks up, but not before dragging us through a number of addiction tropes. Did we really need the slow-motion “Just say No!” shot, taken from Christina’s point-of-view, of the drugs dropping from her hand and into the garbage can? Captor and victim team up to provide a most satisfactory climax. Streaming on Netflix or, better still own it on Blu-ray. (2020) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.