AllMovie

A seemingly idyllic childhood is shattered in a nation torn apart by civil war in this powerful drama from Peru. Juan was an 11-year-old boy living in a small rural community when the town's corrupt mayor was killed. Local authorities believe that the murderers are part of the "Sendero Lumino" (meaning "Shining Path"), an underground revolutionary army dedicated to bringing down the government, and Juan's father, Fermin (Aristoteles Picho), is arrested for suspected involvement with the group. As Juan tries to adjust to life without his father, he's abducted by Wilmer (Sergio Galliani), a Sendero Lumino organizer who is grooming children of the movement into a guerilla army, though Juan has no inherent desire to fight.