Character Relationship Map: Backyard

Characters

• Blanca (played by Ana de la Reguera) — protagonist

  Blanca is a police captain drawn into the investigation of murdered and missing women in Ciudad Juarez. She challenges police indifference, tries to organize a raid against the suspected perpetrators,...

• Juana Sanchez (played by Asur Zagada) — protagonist

  Juana Sanchez is a young factory employee whose life reflects the danger and exhaustion faced by women workers in Ciudad Juarez. Her situation connects the factory system to the wider pattern of explo...

• Fierro (played by Marco Pérez) — supporting

  Fierro is arrested after a violent assault and publicly presented by officials as the alleged serial killer. The evidence against him is weak, while a woman who might have supported the case disappear...

• Mickey Santos (played by Jimmy Smits) — supporting

  Mickey Santos is examined during the investigation because of his extensive business interests. Although he appears publicly legitimate, his commercial profile makes him relevant to the authorities’ e...

• Gobernador (played by Enoc Leaño) — minor

  Gobernador is the political authority who orders the unrest contained after public protests grow around the killings. He chooses concealment over justice and arranges Blanca’s removal from the investi...

• Peralta (played by Joaquín Cosío) — minor

  Peralta uses radio broadcasts to encourage public protests over the disappearances, murders, and official inaction. His broadcasts contribute to the public pressure surrounding Blanca’s investigation,...

• El Sultán (played by Sayed Badreya) — minor

  El Sultán becomes a central figure as the investigation points toward his connections with a criminal group. Evidence indicates that money was paid for bodies and that the murders were treated as a bu...

• Hilda (played by Adriana Paz) — minor

  Hilda is a pregnant survivor who embodies the pressure placed on vulnerable factory workers. She is urged to undergo an abortion after being told that her job cannot provide safe care for a child. Her...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Blanca → Mickey Santos (Professional Investigative Scrutiny) — Mickey becomes subject to the investigation because of his business network.

  Mickey Santos is examined because of his extensive businesses, although he appears publicly legitimate.

• Blanca → Fierro (Professional Investigator And Suspect) — Blanca investigates the case surrounding Fierro's arrest.

  Blanca is involved in the investigation while Fierro is arrested and presented as the alleged serial killer.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• El Sultán → Fierro (Narrative Contrasting Suspect Leads) — The two names represent competing or expanding explanations for the killings.

  Fierro is publicly presented as the alleged serial killer, while later evidence points toward El Sultán and a criminal group.

• El Sultán → Mickey Santos (Unknown Criminal-Business Connection) — The plot places both men within the investigation's wider criminal and commercial network, without proving a direct partnership.

  The investigation examines El Sultán's connections with a criminal group and separately examines Mickey Santos because of his extensive businesses.

• Peralta → Gobernador (Conflict Political Adversaries) — Peralta's broadcasts oppose the Gobernador's effort to suppress public unrest.

  Peralta encourages public protests, and the Gobernador orders the unrest contained.

• Blanca → Peralta (Alliance Public Accountability Allies) — Peralta's broadcasts reinforce public pressure surrounding the investigation.

  Peralta's radio broadcasts encourage public protests while Blanca tries to pursue the killings despite official resistance.

• Blanca → Juana Sanchez (Narrative Investigator And Worker) — Their parallel roles connect official investigation with the workers' lived experience.

  Blanca confronts police indifference toward factory workers, while Juana is presented as a young factory worker trapped between exhausting labor and d...

• Blanca → Hilda (Alliance Investigator And Survivor) — Hilda's experience gives Blanca further insight into institutional exploitation of women.

  Blanca meets Hilda, a pregnant survivor who is pressured to undergo an abortion after being denied safe care through her factory job.

• Blanca → El Sultán (Conflict Investigator And Suspected Criminal) — Blanca's investigation moves toward El Sultán as a possible criminal connection.

  The investigation eventually points toward El Sultán and his connections with the criminal group.

• Blanca → Gobernador (Conflict Political Opponents) — Blanca's pursuit of accountability clashes with the Gobernador's policy of containment and concealment.

  The Gobernador orders the unrest contained and arranges Blanca's removal from the case.

Story Analysis

The film follows Blanca's investigation into femicide and institutional corruption in Ciudad Juárez, ending with power suppressing justice and leaving violence unresolved.

Plot Progression

1. Bodies Beneath the Border — A murdered young woman is found in Ciudad Juárez, and investigators connect her death to a wider pattern of disappearances, rapes, and killings. The city’s poverty, factory labor, commerce, and exploi...
2. The Convenient Suspect — Blanca joins the investigation as authorities arrest Fierro and present him as the alleged serial killer. The weak case and disappearance of a crucial witness expose the instability of the official na...
3. Workers Without Protection — Blanca confronts police indifference toward survivors and factory workers. Juana's working life, the testimony about repeated sexual violence, and Hilda's coercion reveal how institutional and economi...
4. Murder as Commerce — The investigation points toward El Sultán and a criminal network in which money is paid for bodies. Mickey Santos is examined because of his businesses, while authorities turn toward arrests and coerc...
5. Silenced by Power — Peralta's broadcasts encourage protests, but the Gobernador orders the unrest contained and removes Blanca from the case. Blanca ends isolated and apparently captive, while the promised resolution bec...