On a normal day on her way to work, Miriam is arrested on suspicion of human trafficking. While the government reports that a criminal gang has been rounded up, in reality a group of innocent Mexicans has fallen victim to the vagaries of a corrupt system.
Miriam is held for more than a year in a prison run by a drug cartel, and her family has to pay for her protection. In jail, Miriam faces extortion, humiliation and extreme violence, memories that will continue to haunt her for years to come. A circus artist named Adela is also a victim: her daughter Monica was kidnapped by human traffickers 10 years ago and has never come back.
The horrific abductions, the unseen civil war between the government and the drug cartels and the ubiquitous fear this brings about are revealed through poetic, meditative images of everyday life in Mexico, with Miriam and Adela providing a voice-over.
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