Tragic Adolescence in Michel Franco’s Heli and Amat Escalante’s Después de Lucía

Abstract

This chapter compares the characteristics, roles, and fates of two teenage girls who are victims of sadistic violence (including rape) in two Mexican films, Despues de Lucia (dir. Michel Franco 2012) and Heli (dir. Amat Escalante 2013). After inscribing these adolescents within the broader panorama of teenage protagonists in contemporary Mexican cinema, the chapter seeks to interpret the filmic treatment and the significance of their sexual abuse in relation to other acts of violence in the films’ narratives, showing that such narratives crystallise an anti-initiatory process of the loss of speech. Lastly, the chapter focuses on the mise-en-scene of two key cinematic tropes connected with the tragedies of these adolescent characters, namely screens (i.e. televisions, videogames, iPhones) and cars.