This twisted vengeance fantasy sees an alienated and overweight teen enter into an uneasy alliance with a similarly ostracised yet deeply deranged individual. Spanish writer-director Carlota Pereda builds on her award-winning 2018 short to create a confident and compelling feature that superficially recalls De Palma’s Carrie yet distinguishes itself with its moral quandaries, rural Spanish location and the unusual relationship at its core.

Laura Galán plays the film’s sullen and put-upon protagonist Sara. Daughter of the village butcher, Sara is subjected to breath-taking cruelty from female peers who dub her ‘Piggy’, including her former friend Claudia (Irene Ferreiro). When three of the girls are kidnapped by a serial killer (Richard Holmes) in the aftermath of a particularly unpleasant bullying episode, Sara forms a tacit understanding with the perpetrator to keep schtum.

The narrow frame encourages compassion and identification with Sara in a taut, darkly funny and stunningly shot film that also leaves us interestingly conflicted. A tank-like Holmes brings immense physicality and an almost Frankenstein’s monster-esque incomprehension to his role, and there’s nice work from Carmen Machi as Sara’s merciless mother. But it’s Galán who commands our attention, with a performance that’s totally, utterly fearless. 

In cinemas from Friday 21 October.