In Mexico, as drug cartels thrive and grow ever more ruthless, violence has emerged as a tragic feature of the country’s life and subconscious. In Devil’s Freedom, director Everardo Gonzáles (El Paso) gathers firsthand testimonies of victims as well as perpetrators – all of them, eerily, wearing masks during their interviews. Their anonymity shifts the focus from the participants to their stories, and frees them to express their emotions. Beyond the bloodshed itself, the film explores how fear and uncertainty have penetrated every level of Mexican society. Gonzáles asks what meaning is to be found in this violence, taking a psychological plunge into the nightmares and emptiness that so many dead bodies leave in their wake.