Karen Martínez in Cadje Bianco

CADJE BIANCO
Directed by Justin Lerner
Certificate: 12a
☆☆☆☆

TWO sisters head out to a nightclub. Only one wakes up at home the next day.

This is the premise to a film that is so much more than a gutsy and real crime thriller.

Director Justin Lerner has created a story that examines gang culture, misogyny and violence in Guatemala and draws on non-professional actors to give it a raw authenticity. With City of God vibes about it, the cast ups its realness and makes every scene fascinating.

Sarita (Karen Martínez) is sensible and homely, while her sister Bea (Pamela Martínez) wants to break away from the conservative restrictions imposed on them by their grandmother.

Bea tells Sarita she needs her to come out one night with her, as she has to go to a local dive to deal with some unfinished business.

The pair head to meet Andres (Rudy Rodríguez), a pistol-toting bartender who runs drugs and gets up to other mischief. Bea disappears that night – and Sarita is convinced Andres and his gang have something to do with it.

To discover the truth, she poses as a prostitute and ingratiates herself with people who live by a morally bankrupt paradoxical code of honour code and have no qualms drawing others in.

Her sibling loyalty puts her in extreme danger – and she has only herself to rely on, the Guatemalan police are horribly under-resourced, often corrupt and with a near-zero crime solving record.

It tells a harsh truth about Guatemala. The near 40-year-long civil war normalised violence and gave gangsters the experience and the means to get and use firearms. With a shocking 97 per cent of murders unsolved, the chances of getting away with it are loaded in any perpetrator’s favour.

Lerner’s work with Guatemalan communities, including young men involved in gangs, casting non-professional actors and working with them to get the script right makes this feel more than a film – it has real social value.

It does means there are moments of slightly wobbly acting, but it is more than made up for the grand storytelling, the incredible leads and the backstory to the film.

• Lerner will be discussing the film at a special screening at the Garden Cinema in Covent Garden on August 23. See: www.thegardencinema.co.uk/film/cadejo-blanco-qa/