Devil Between the Legs

In Mexico City, Beatriz endures a daily cascade of insults from a husband whose jealousy keeps him tethered to her. She stays not from love alone but because their bond has grown into a brittle codependency she can't imagine escaping. Humiliation becomes a perverse currency she swaps for a sense of being seen, of being wanted, even as control and cruelty frame their days. The relationship television-like in its routine, reveals a psyche that accepts degradation as proof of passion, while Beatriz quietly carves out a fragile space for herself inside the shadow of his anger. The film tracks the narrowing perimeter of her world, a quiet drama about desire, power, and endurance.

Directed by Arturo Ripstein with a script by Paz Alicia Garciadiego, the 2019 drama stems from their long collaboration and the Mexican cinema's focus on intimate character studies. It transforms a stark moral terrain into a restrained on screen experience. It reflects a long standing collaboration.

Box office data for this title are not widely reported, suggesting a modest release in art-house circuits and festival showings. There is no widely published worldwide gross, and the film's footprint remains largely within Mexico's arthouse scene and selective international festival runs.

There are no widely documented major nominations or wins for this title, as it played primarily in art-house venues and festivals. Critics praised its direction and performances, but the film did not become a staple of the award circuit, marking Ripstein's late career as a quiet critical success in Mexico and international audiences.

Critics describe the film as a contained, unflinching look at power imbalances, codependency, and the language of humiliation within a lifelong partnership. The performances are restrained and precise, inviting viewers to question where desire ends and domination begins, and how endurance tests personal dignity in a city that keeps secrets.