Desierto adentro (2008)

The backdrop is Mexico's Cristero War, which took place between 1926 and 1929, when the Mexican government banned Catholicism and persecuted its followers. Clergy are separated from their congregations and worship is forbidden. Elias follows his wife's wishes by seeking out a priest to perform the last rites on their unborn son, whom she fears will die because she sustained a fall. He finds one and manages to persuade him to return with him to the village to perform the last rites, despite putting the community's safety at risk. The Federales follow the pair and kill every man, woman, and child in the village. Elias' family is able to escape, although his wife dies giving birth to their son. Captured, Elias realizes he is responsible for the deaths of his entire community and begs the priest for forgiveness before his execution. The priest says he is unable to do anything but curse Elias's bloodline. Elias escapes and becomes obsessed with the concept of atoning for his sin. He moves his remaining seven children to the desert, where they begin to build a monument to God. As his children start to die through illness and accident, Elias maintains that God has forsaken him, and his religious beliefs turn from reverence to homicidal and take over his and his children's lives.