EL LAZO DE PETRA (2025)

Sometimes late stage capitalism isn’t the worst! That’s not the main takeaway from this fantastic short film, but seeing that it was produced by Apple (via Apple Mexico), it’s nice to see large corporations actually spending their money on cool art.

EL LAZO DE PETRA is written and directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero (BINGO HELL, SATANIC HISPANICS, V/H/S/85), the short stars Florencia Ríos, Nora Velázquez, and Kala Martínez. It was shot entirely on iPhone 16 Pro and tremendously combines fairy tales, family, horror, magical realism, comedy, zombies, ghosts, ghouls, and old school video games. It’s a delightful short that evokes THE PRINCESS BRIDE and El Santo-type films of legendary characters facing off against terrible creatures in the most entertaining of ways. It wonderfully creates a lived in world and vibe and tells a complete story with true heart, in under 12 minutes.

The plot summary (translated from Spanish):

When a city girl visits her grandmother's ranch, a bedtime story about a brave charra transports her to a world of magical lassos, fantastical creatures... and a lot of girl power.

The short is below, with the ability to turn on subtitles with the CC button.