Sad Girlz

This delicate MIFF award-winning drama follows two teenage girls forced to navigate the fallout from a traumatic experience.

Sixteen-year-old best friends Paula and La Maestra are both training to represent Mexico at the Junior Pan American Swimming Championships in Brazil. One night at a party, Paula’s crush Daniel follows her into the bathroom. Over the hours and days that follow, La Maestra notices Paula becoming increasingly distant and sad, and the two friends consult both ChatGPT and a tarot deck for answers as they try to process what happened to her. In confronting the complex emotions and decisions that follow, the girls’ once-inseparable bond faces a grave test.

For her debut feature, writer/director Fernanda Tovar has crafted a perceptive and nuanced portrait of female teenage friendship within an accessible, compassionate story exploring the aftermath of sexual assault. Never didactic or moralising, Sad Girlz is led by authentic, intimate performances by its two lead actors, Rocio Guzman and Darana Alvarez – qualities recognised at this year’s Berlinale, where it received both the Youth Jury Crystal Bear for Best Film and the International Jury Grand Prix in the festival’s Generation 14plus section.

Sad Girlz received the MIFF Schools Youth Jury award at the Melbourne International Film Festival this year.