When actor-director Bárbara Mestanza was sexually assaulted in a massage parlor in Madrid in 2019, she froze. Then, in shock, she simply paid and did not report the incident. When she told others about her traumatic experience, she was invariably met with the same question: “Why did you do nothing?” She still has no idea.
The experience continues to weigh heavily on her: the abuse affects every aspect of her life. To give expression to her trauma, she decides to turn it into a theater piece, titled Sucia (Spanish for “filthy”). Meanwhile, she investigates the identity of her abuser and tries to bring him to justice.
Filthy shows a complex process spanning years—years in which Mestanza works on her highly personal theater piece and talks with her boyfriend, mother, friends, colleagues, and lawyer. This intimate, personal, and candid film is also a universal story familiar to many, as revealed by a questionnaire that Mestanza distributes to the audience after each performance of her piece.
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