Innocent Voices is a better Spanish-language movie than To Die in San Hilario and offers a more sombre view of childhood south of the Rio Grande than Nacho Libre. It's based on its screenwriter Oscar Torres's childhood experiences of growing up in a mountain village in El Salvador during the ferocious civil war of 1980 to 1992 when 12-year-old boys were routinely forced by the national army to fight against the guerrillas. The period is vividly recreated and the point of view of a lad approaching that dangerous 12th birthday well sustained.