This spookily confident, semi-autobiographical feature debut of Colombian director and co-scenarist Laura Mora is a tense, absorbing drama that probes the troubled nature of grief, the ethics of revenge and the limits of empathy.

Set in Mora’s hometown of Medellín, the story is thrust into motion on a wave of pure trauma: 22-year-old Paula witnesses her father being shot to death in front of their home. Paula initially tries to stifle her sorrow with distractions, but an unexpected encounter with her father’s killer sets Paula on a course of retribution—one she may not be able to abscond from.

Killing Jesus complicates simplistic distinctions between victim and perpetrator, calling into question the way we process crime and punishment in a society teeming with corruption.