Middle-aged office worker Doña Flor (Adriana Barraza, Babel) lives a solitary life of quiet desperation, issuing government ID cards and spending nights in her tiny apartment watching romantic films alongside her beloved cat Manuelito. But when Manuelito dies and her sole outlet for love and affection is lost, the tiny cracks in Doña Flor’s colorless façade grow, forcing the reclusive worker to reach out for any kind of human touch in the only way she knows how, and leading to an unexpected moment of connection and grace.

This austere, first scripted feature from acclaimed documentarian and MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient Natalia Almada (El velador), brings her sharp, observant eye to the lives of Mexico’s working women, lives shaped by responsibility to family and self yet often pockmarked by acts of everyday violence. Using her trademark stillness and control, Almada challenges us to experience the numbing repetition and silent anguish of a bureaucrat’s life, and rewards our patience with an unforgettable human gesture, almost revolutionary in a world that seems to have no need for it.

“A heartfelt argument for empathy.” Emma Casley, Indiewire.

Winner: Best Actress, Morelia; Jury Prize, Mumbai