Holy Girl (La Nina Santa)

This Argentinean movie with English subtitles explores adolescent eroticism in the context of a deeply religious Catholic society.

Amalia is a girl of about 14 or 15 who lives with her divorced mother in a hotel her mother manages.

Many things are unclear to the non-Argentinean non-Catholic watching this movie, but I'll do my best to explain. Amalia attends what appear to be regular Bible study courses with a friend of hers. Her friend is not the most feminine looking of girls and is called "Jose," so naturally I spent some time trying to decide if this Jose was, shall we say, sexually confused. Eventually, I learned that Jose is short for Josefina.

These Bible studies are led by a severe and devout young women named Ines, played by the only actor an American is likely to recognize in this movie, Mia Maestro. Ms. Maestro also plays Jennifer Garner's half-sister, Maria Santos, on TV's Alias). While dressed in street clothes, this Ines might or might not be a nun (I could not tell), and is rumored among the girls to be having some sort of relationship with a man that at least involves French kissing.

While out on the street listening to a musician, Amalia is slightly molested by a man who stands behind her letting his pelvic area touch her backside. He leaves when she turns around but she gets a glimpse of his face.

In their Bible studies, there is much talk of vocation. What is one's purpose in life? Apparently, Amalia decides that to help this man back onto the path is her vocation, at least for now. Ironically, this man (a Dr. Jano, who is visiting the hotel for a medical conference) becomes the object of attention of Amalia's mother, unbeknownst to Amalia.

Amalia has confided in Josefina, giving her the basic details of the molestation. As we know, the only real way to keep a secret secret is to tell know one, so the makings of a human tragedy are in place.

Once the doctor and Amalia recognize each other and realize the situation that they are in with Amalia's mother (who remains oblivious), the doctor grows seemingly repentant and invites his wife and children to the hotel for a visit.

Josefina's mother very nearly catches Josefina in the act of having sex with her boyfriend. Her mother sees that something is wrong with the girl, who is in an emotional turmoil, and in order to explain her state and deflect attention from herself. She declares that she has been relating a dreadful story to the boyfriend, and this forces her to blurt out Amalia's secret. The tragedy begins to unfold.

However, it doesn't unfold as you might expect, and the movie has a frustratingly pointless and unsatisfying ending.