Heroic

“There are no rights here, not even humans.”

Luis (Santiago Sandoval), an 18-year-old from an indigenous family in Mexico, walks through the gates of the Heroico Military College hoping the uniform will buy him a better future. Inside, David Zonana puts him under officers and older cadets in a system built to turn boys into obedient soldiers, and Luis takes the orders without complaint. The film is about what an institution asks of the people who have the least to lose, and what they hand over to stay.