The Chosen Ones Information

The Chosen Ones () is a 2015 Mexican drama film directed by David Pablos. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. The film was named on the shortlist for Mexico's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.

Plot

Teenagers Ulysis (Oscars Torres) and Sofia (Nancy Talamantes) are in a relationship. It is revealed that Ulysis is being groomed by his family to entrap his young lovers into the prostitution ring that forms his family's business. Having fallen for Sofia his first lover, Ulysis puts up an unsuccessful fight to prevent her from being exploited. His father agrees to let Sofia free only when Ulysis gets another young girl to replace her in the brothel. Thus he sets toward honeytrapping his extensive victim.

Meanwhile, Sofia is pushed further into the flesh trade and hardens up after seeing the chances of her escape getting slimmer as days go by. She finally finds a good samaritan who plans to get her out, but soon before that Ulysis manages to push another girl, Marta into prostitution to replace her and takes Sofia away to live with him.

Getting back to relative freedom and into Ulysis's family, Sofia finds it difficult to be happy or thankful to Ulysis, who is the root cause of her miseries and the reason why she cannot see her family. She also realises another girl has been trapped by Ulysis as her replacement and struggles with this thought. Ulysis in turn tries to please her in futility but cannot get her to revert to the happy sweetheart she was, and also feels guilty about it. The film ends with Sofia and Ulysis on a seemingly normal outing with Ulysis's family but the two youngsters glance at each other probably wondering if things will ever be normal again.

Critical reception

The film was well received by critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 83% of 24 critics gave the film a positive review, for an average rating of 8/10.

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Nominee	Result
58th Ariel Awards
	Best Art Direction	Daniela Schneider
	Best Cinematography	Carolina Costa
	Best Costume Design	Daniela Schneider
	Best Director	David Pablos
	Best Editing	Miguel Schverdfinger, Aina Calleja
	Best Make-Up	Nayeli Mora
	Best Original Score	Carlo Ayhlln
	Best Original Screenplay	David Pablos
	Best Picture	Las Elegidas
	Best Sound	Alejandro de Icaza, Pablo Tamez
	Best Supporting Actress	Alicia Quionez
	Breakthrough Male Performance	scar Torres
	Breakthrough Female Performance	Nancy Talamantes
Cannes Film Festival	Un Certain Regard	David Pablos
San Sebastin International Film Festival	Horizons Award	David Pablos
Stockholm International Film Festival	Bronze Horse - Best Film	David Pablos
Zurich Film Festival	Best International Feature Film	David Pablos