The protective saint of drug traffickers, petty thieves, street vendors and prisoners, the guardian angel of taxi-drivers and mothers, Santa Muerte (Holy Death) is the central folk saint in a cult that has become increasingly important within Mexican society and among Hispanic immigrants to the USA. Having undergone a spectacular rise in popularity over the past 20 years, she now has over 2 million devotees, including 1 million in the Mexican capital alone. Represented by a skeleton, often life-size, dressed in a long satin tunic and with a golden crown, she is regarded by many as a protective saint, the final refuge to escape an extremely harsh and violent day-to-day reality. This documentary seeks to understand the origins of this national cult in a country as paradoxical as Mexico, where the influence of drug-traf cking is phenomenal.