On the outskirts of a Mexican village, a former elementary school teacher emerges badly bruised on the shore of a remote lake and must find her way back to town. “La Oscuridad,” directed by Jorge Sistos Moreno, is a visceral portrait of Marina, a woman left for dead. She somehow survives the ordeal and crawls to safety, where she’s first greeted by a wild horse, and then ignored by a series of humans. She moves like a ghost through the scorching Mexican sun and arrives at the primary school where she once worked, and slowly, her motivations are revealed. Minimal but potent, Moreno’s film is filled with striking visuals and haunting tones. -KA.

Director: Jorge Sistos Moreno. Cast: Ixchel Flores Machorro, Cuauhtli Jiménez, Tere Sánchez. Director of Photography: Alfonso Herrera Salcedo. Producers: Drake Burnette, Martha Liñán, Jorge Sistos M. Production Design: Elisa Adame. Casting: Sergio Díaz Ochoa. Make up: Carlos Huerta. Music by: Martin McNulty Crane.