La Hija Del Mar is a telenovela written and directed by Mínica Agueda. It originally premiered in 2021. It centers on the life of a young girl, Flora, who becomes involved with the criminal life in her neighborhood, the slum of La Martina. She is forced to work in the bar where her alcoholic father operates, but she secretly wants to go out and find a way to support herself and her younger brother.
This telenovela is highly addictive and charming story that follows Flora as she rises through the ranks of La Martina and the Colombian National Police force. Mánica’s plots are extremely realistic, despite having very little in common with other works in the genre. The use of Spanish is perfectly appropriate throughout the film, yet at times it can sometimes be a bit overdone. Despite this lack of continuity between the plot and the characters, this is an incredibly well-written and acted telenovela that anyone interested in crime stories should absolutely read.
“La Hija Del Mariachi” means “The Hidden Hill of Miramar”. The name is given to the neighborhood because of the many slums located around it, known collectively as the Baroque Plaza. The entire area was considered dangerous during the early years of Colombian history, which explains the presence of armed guards constantly guarding the plaza. As such, the area became infamous for its crime and violence. Mánica and her coconspirators decided to target the Baroque Plaza as their target and set off an explosion that blew up the rubbish factory, killing twenty-nine people (including several minors). Mánica then escaped the scene and immediately started looking for witnesses who could help her get rid of her captors.
The movie starts out with Mánica, her lover Uma, and her cousins Ignacio and Estrella heading to a vacation spot on the northern part of Bogota. They hide inside a nearby tree and wait for a boat to come by so that they can use it to go to their intended destination. Unfortunately, the vacationer from the resort cuts across the border and sees Mánica, thinking she is alone.
Ignacio and Estrella take refuge in a nearby hotel, while Uma decides to call her cousin Nicanos in Colombia to ask for help. Nicanos does not know where Ignacio and Estrella are, so he goes to his nearby cousin Francisco’s house. Francisco’s cousin Francisco tells Uma that he had seen Ignacio and Estrella at a restaurant earlier that day. When Nicanos arrives home, he sees Ignacio outside cornered by three men who want to take him to their ranch.
Ignacio tries to run away, but Francisco gets beaten badly. Ignacio then managed to scare the men off with his car and drives his way into the ranchera. While en route, he sees two men tied to a post and begins to ask questions about why his cousin has been locked up. Ignacio then decides to free the two men and confront Francisco at his ranch-he thinks he sees a bulletproof sign outside the gate.
Ignacio and Francisco arrive at the ranchera, where Nicanos reveals that Francisco is an ex Colombian Army officer who was once stationed at the famous Tarifa Military Base near Bogota. During his service, he had two encounters with a terrorist known as Los Molinos. One of his colleagues, Ruben Barrientos had discovered Los Molinos’ hideout in a bar plaza garibelli. As a consequence, the terrorists had planted a bomb there and planned to blow it up while the soldiers were inside the base. Ignacio and Francisco come to the rescue, killing several terrorist and taking back the bomb.
A week later, Ignacio and Francisco are seen playing golf at an ancient golf course beneath a palm tree named Uma Valle. Ignacio accidentally hits a ball into the branches of a waterfall called El Marlago, which spills a yellowish liquid onto the green. Francisco and Ignacio then walk into the underground tunnels of the Uma Valle Golf Club, where they meet Uma, who is dying of thirst and is about to die of thirst due to the excessive water pouring from the waterfall. Meanwhile, Francisco and Ignacio witness Los Molinos preparing to carry out their plan to free Areo, who had been given to them as a bargaining chip by Ignacio earlier that day.