Fernanda Tovar’s feature debut Sad Girlz - world-premiering in Berlinale’s Generation 14plus - is a bittersweet stunner. The Mexican director bets everything on female friendship, and wins. As a teenage girl, that’s what you really dream about: not boys, please, but about having a best friend with whom you can share your entire world.

Maestra and Paula (Rocio Guzmán and Darana Álvarez) are 16 years old and do everything together. Surrounded by love and quirky family members - and a massive pig, making a cameo I still have questions about – they have big plans. Promising athletes who aren’t afraid of a little competition, they are training for swimming championships that might finally take them abroad. It will be a good summer, it seems. That’s what the tarot cards say.

Tovar captures this moment of life and drenches it in sunshine – as a 16-year-old, if life has been kind to you, everything feels like anticipation. The girls are so excited for all the new experiences they know are coming their way. Sex is one of them, and there’s a boy that Paula is intrigued by. They are about to see him at a party they are going to, wearing so much makeup it almost drips off their young faces. But Paula’s not in a hurry. She wants her first time to be special.

What happens next leaves her confused, and even her best friend can’t read the signs. Paula goes from “I’m not sure how to explain it” to “maybe I don’t like sex” and “I didn’t want it to happen… There.” Tovar is a gentle director and nothing in her film will further traumatise viewers; an important choice, given that so many arthouse films depict sexual violence in questionable ways or use it as a tool to talk about women. But it’s still so sad, and frankly infuriating, to watch the aftermath of what happens to Paula and her retreat into silence.

“It was rape” - that’s what ChatGPT says once she reluctantly provides more details and the girls look for answers online, obviously. Before, she didn’t want to say it out loud. Tovar shows exactly how twisted sexual assault can be, especially when it’s committed by someone you know or in a place that was supposed to be safe, full of other people. It doesn’t stop there, either. The person who hurt you can still ask if you have plans for the weekend and why you aren’t returning his calls.

I strongly believe it’s absolutely crucial to keep showing, also in films, that sexual violence doesn’t have to define you and that it’s possible to survive it. That’s why Tovar’s film is so needed. And it is not dishonest: confusion, anger and guilt take a toll on these girls. They react differently, and Maestra, the more explosive of the two, doesn’t always listen to her friend or respect her choices. Still, Sad Girlz shows that women, and girls, can really help each other. It won’t be easy and it will take time, but these two aren’t going anywhere and they will reclaim their joy. Their summer isn’t over just yet.

Sad Girlz was produced by Colectivo Colmena (Mexico) and co-produced by Potenza Producciones (Spain), Promenades Films (France), Martini Shot Films (Mexico) and CTT Exp & Rentals (Mexico). Alpha Violet handles sales.