That Wasn’t Me

Paula and Juanjo are Spanish aid workers traveling with their guide Conductor. They move through the rural landscape, discussing work and life as the convoy travels. The mood is calm before the day’s disruption.

At a checkpoint, a group of child soldiers with machine guns halt the vehicle and demand to see documents. Conductor tries to keep things calm while he hands over papers. Juanjo tries to ease tension by talking with one of the soldiers, Kaney.

Before they can be cleared through, the General appears and publicly accuses the aid workers of kidnapping child soldiers. The tension spikes as the soldiers close in and take control of the situation.

The three aid workers are marched away as hostages to a military compound. They are separated from the soldiers’ crowd and brought inside the compound’s walls. The sense of danger and uncertainty grows as they realize the stakes.

The General faces the children and asks which one is brave enough to shoot the captives. An older child steps forward and fires, killing Conductor and wounding another child. The crowd reacts with a mix of fear and awe.

The General commands Kaney to eliminate his wounded friend so the cripple won’t be a burden. Kaney hesitates at first, but ultimately carries out the killing as the crowd looks on.

An adult Kaney addresses the crowd, explaining that in his culture family means everything and that the General is like a father to him. He reveals the pressure to obey, showing how obedience to the General can override personal bonds.

During the chaos, Juanjo is killed, leaving Paula as the sole captive. Teniente handcuffs himself to Paula and brutally rapes her while Kaney stands guard. The episode marks a brutal moment of domination within the camp.

An assault on the compound erupts, disrupting the ongoing abuses. Paula hides as gunfire erupts and the camp is overrun, with many soldiers and captives killed.

When the fighting ends, Paula sprints through the chaos and passes the dead, heading for a broken jeep. She finds Kaney still alive among the wreckage and realizes the danger still present.

Paula grabs a fallen soldier’s gun, grasps Kaney, and handcuffs herself to him to ensure he cannot escape or be harmed. They struggle to the jeep together, driven by a fragile mix of fear and desperation. The reconciliation is uneasy and fraught.

They reach a fork in the road and Paula demands directions to town. Kaney refuses to tell her, choosing silence over aiding his captor. Paula insists they need real shelter and threatens that she will help him escape only if they reach safety.

In a final cruel twist, Paula shoots Kaney in the leg, crippling him and forcing a grim acknowledgment of her decision to escape. Kaney screams in pain while Paula lashes back with a cutting taunt about his future.

The film returns to the adult Kaney delivering a speech to the crowd, praising obedience and family bonds under coercion. The audience responds with applause, and the final image shows Paula sitting in the crowd, crying but applauding.