The Secret of the River (2024)
EL SECRETO DEL RÍO
Trans and Muxe identity is explored in the 2024 Mexican series THE SECRET OF THE RIVER (El secreto del río) – now streaming on Netflix!
THE SECRET OF THE RIVER
(El secreto del río)
2024. Mexico.
Directors: Ernesto Contreras, Alba Gil & Alejandro Zuno
Writer: Fanie Soto
Starring: Trinidad González, Diego Calva, Mauro Guzmán, Frida Sofía Cruz Salinas, Yoshira Escárrega, Lisa Rivas, La Bruja de Texcoco, Jorge A. Jimenez, Nova Coronel and Mercedes Hernández
We’ve had some great queer series released in 2024 – EL SECRETO DEL RÍO is one of my top favourites and I can’t recommend it enough! The series is set in a Oaxacan village in Mexico and follows Erik and Manuel, two young children who witness a death and are forced to keep it a secret to protect themselves. As time goes on their bond grows stronger, but they are soon separated due to bigotry. In the time that they are apart, Manuel has grown to better understand her identity and returns to the village nearly twenty years later as Sicarú. As Sicarú and Erik attempt to rebuild their friendship, an outsider threatens to reveal the secret that haunted them as children.
The actress who plays Sicarú, Trinidad González, discussed her character and bonding with the muxes during filming in a recent interview with THEM:
“Something that really moved me was this need to feel heard, to feel seen, but not seen through this folkloric lens, but through the human side, the true side. They all had the same message: ‘Trinidad, please tell our story, tell what we really go through.’ And that gave me this voice of bravery to bring Sicarú to life and not only tell my story but also tell their stories, the stories of my sisters.”
Sicarú’s journey is one of the most interesting aspects of the series. Like many of us, she had difficulty understanding why she was different as a child. But, upon meeting the community of muxes in her village she begins to better understand herself. If you’re unfamiliar with the term muxe, it is generally associated with third-gender people within the indigenous Zapotec community in Mexico. When Sicarú first returns to the village she identifies as trans, but after reconnecting with the muxe who raised her she is confronted with her own misconceptions of their culture and soon realizes she may identify as muxe herself.
THE SECRET OF THE RIVER is streaming on Netflix.
