La Llorona (2020) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Patricia blames Anna because she believes Anna's actions directly led to her children's deaths. When Anna investigated the truancy case, she confronted Patricia, leading to her arrest. This resulted in Patricia's children being placed in a child-services shelter, where they eventually drowned. Patricia sees Anna as responsible for removing her children from her care and placing them in a dangerous environment.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, the boys beg Anna to keep them at the house rather than take them to the shelter, warning her about danger.

• patricia
• anna
• children
• blame
• shelter
• arrest

Patricia's two sons, Carlos and Tomas, drowned at the child-services shelter after being placed there following their mother's arrest. While at the shelter, Tomas sleepwalked and encountered the ghostly woman in white, and both boys were later found drowned in a river.

Foreshadowing: The shelter is described as having a disturbing atmosphere, and the boys experience terrifying disturbances there.

• carlos
• tomas
• children
• drowned
• shelter
• river

La Llorona targets Anna's children because Patricia prayed to the malevolent spirit specifically requesting that La Llorona take Anna's children in exchange for her own. This connection is established when Patricia, accused of murdering her own children, screams at Anna blaming her for the deaths and revealing she prayed to La Llorona for revenge.

Foreshadowing: Patricia's accusation at the river directly links her supernatural prayer to the attacks on Anna's family.

• la llorona
• anna children
• patricia
• revenge
• prayer
• supernatural

The necklace is the same cherished gift that the youngest son gave to his mother in the 1673 flashback. In the climax, Chris uses this necklace to distract La Llorona, causing her to momentarily shift to a calmer appearance as she longs for her lost child. This reveals the tragic human element behind the vengeful spirit.

Foreshadowing: The 1673 opening scene shows the young boy gifting his mother the necklace in a joyful family moment before the tragedy occurs.

• necklace
• son
• mother
• 1673
• flashback
• distraction

Anna defeats La Llorona by driving a cross made from the sacred Fire Tree through the spirit's chest. The Fire Tree is significant because it was the witness to La Llorona's original crime in 1673 when she drowned her children. This sacred wood proves powerful enough to vanquish the malevolent spirit.

Foreshadowing: The 1673 timeline establishes the Fire Tree as present at the scene of the original crime.

• cross
• fire tree
• defeat
• victory
• sacred wood
• chest

Patricia helps Anna because she experiences a moment of moral clarity when she realizes the pain of losing her own children. Though she came armed intending to deliver Anna's children to La Llorona, she instead chooses to aid Anna in protecting her children, showing her conflicted nature and ultimate redemption.

Foreshadowing: Patricia's deep resentment stems from her own loss, which the narrative explores throughout her character arc.

• patricia
• anna
• help
• redemption
• children
• confrontation

The burn marks appear on the children who encounter La Llorona, specifically Chris and Sam, as physical evidence of her supernatural contact. When La Llorona grasps them, she leaves identical burn marks on their wrists, showing her intent to harm and potentially drown them, mirroring how she killed her own children.

Foreshadowing: Chris is the first to encounter La Llorona at the river, suffering burns when she grasps him.

• burn marks
• chris
• sam
• wrist
• contact
• injury

The 1973 narrative is connected to the 1673 origin through Patricia's prayer to La Llorona, which summoning the spirit to attack Anna's family. The 1673 flashback establishes La Llorona's origin as a mother who drowned her children and is now a vengeful spirit seeking to take other children. The necklace and Fire Tree serve as links between both timelines.

Foreshadowing: The opening 1673 sequence establishes the legend of La Llorona that will be invoked in 1973.

• 1673
• 1973
• origin
• flashback
• connection
• legend

The Fire Tree is significant because it was the witness to La Llorona's original crime in 1673, standing at the location where she drowned her children. Rafael identifies it as sacred, and its wood is used to create the cross that ultimately defeats the spirit, making it the key to her destruction.

Foreshadowing: The timeline explicitly places the Fire Tree at the scene of the 1673 crime.

• fire tree
• sacred
• witness
• 1973
• cross
• weapon

Anna puts the children in danger by placing them in the child-services shelter after arresting Patricia, ignoring the boys' urgent warnings to keep them safe. This decision leads to the children drowning at the shelter, making Anna indirectly responsible for the tragedy that fuels Patricia's revenge.

Foreshadowing: The boys specifically tell Anna to keep them safe and warn her about something bad happening at the shelter.

• anna
• children
• shelter
• danger
• decision
• truancy

Rafael Olvera is a former priest turned folk shaman who possesses knowledge about combating La Llorona. Father Perez directs Anna to seek him out. Rafael arrives at Anna's home, sets up protective items, and guides the family through the confrontation, playing a crucial role in their survival against the supernatural threat.

Foreshadowing: Father Perez mentions his previous encounter with a haunted porcelain doll connected to La Llorona.

• rafael olvera
• shaman
• priest
• protection
• help
• folklore

La Llorona's origin is revealed in the 1673 flashback, showing a mother who drowned her youngest son in a stream after he witnessed her drowning his older brother. She presumably drowned him as well to prevent him from telling anyone, creating the vengeful spirit who now seeks to take other children as replacement for her own lost offspring.

Foreshadowing: The film opens with this tragic family scene before jumping to 1973.

• la llorona
• origin
• mother
• children
• drowned
• 1673
• legend