Dostoyevsky’s obsession with the unpunished murderers walking among us weighs heavily on the politics of the present.

Criminals whose crimes against people, nations and the rule of law are committed in plain sight or proven in court roam free.

People are vanishing in what can only be called gulags in Africa, Central America, Texas and Florida. .

Unaccountable, illegal and lawless “law enforcement” rounds up people — citizens and immigrants — injuring many, killing some and “disappearing” others. Soldiers are unleashed on civilians from Ukraine to Gaza and the streets of American cities as political and racial revenge.

And the citizens of nations spiraling down totalitarian rabbit holes draw little comfort from the attempts at “Truth and Reconcilliation” commisions in South Africa, Chile, Argentina and Northern Ireland. Merely exposing crimes and attempting to move on — even with attempts at “reparations” — will never be enough for many.

For some, the chance to “exact retribution” for what they’ve suffered is all they cling to.

Mexico’s submission to the Best International Feature competition for the 98th Academy Awards speaks to this moment and that fervent desire for revenge.

“We Shall Not be Moved” is a grim, patient drama about a survivor of Mexico’s Dirty War against students and dissent. Pierre Saint-Martin’s “No nos moverán” (in Spanish, with English subtitles) is about an aged attorney seeking a sort of “Death and the Maiden” closure.

Socorro Castellanos — played byLuisa Huertas — is an old woman now, a chain-smoker living with her silent, sullen and widowed sister, dabbling in just enough pro bono work to remind her of the struggles for justice that have consumed her life.

There’s a worn photograph that Soco holds onto, a snapshot taken by grinning goons in uniform as they tortured and killed her brother, Coque, back in the ’60s. Soco muses on how they first killed Coque, “then my Dad, and then my mom” who died alone in the hospital, each of them broken and eaten up with what happened to her brother and the fact that no one was punished for this state-sanctioned crime against humaity.

“We Shall Not Be Moved” begins with what’s in a long-delayed delivery of a package from a now-dead acquaintance. Over fifty years later, Soco finally has a name to go with one of those smiling, ghoulish faces.

It’s not “justice” she seeks. There’ll be no accusation, no public trial.

“Justice in this country is for the rich and those in power,” she advises a couple trying to settle a debt with a lendor. “Retribution,” “an eye for an eye” is what she has in mind for this Juan Antonio Agundez who murdered her brother.

The narrative is about how an old woman with some connections — mostly with the elderly or retired, like her — who tries to get her revenge and just how complicated that might be.

“Revenge thrillers” are typically a glib genre, making the idea of righting a personal wrong look easy, righteous and rewarding. “We Shall Not Be Moved” upends some of those conventions.

It has its Chekhov’s Gun, which is an old and under-maintained pistol that won’t scare anyone.

There’s Soco’s ex-con building maintenance man Sidartha (José Alberto Patiño) who may be sketchy and loyal, but is nobody’s idea of a killer for hire. Maybe a more shadowy (Alberto Trujillo) from her legal past can be tracked down.

Soco’s son Jorge (Pedro Hernández) and his Argentine wife Lucia (Agustina Quinci) buy her groceries and look out for her. She won’t trouble her unemployed journalist son. But there is a little something Lucia can do to pitch in.

As others are enlisted and wheels set in motion Soco sees a white pigeon that shows up as a “sign” that Coque is watching over her efforts. But Soco also has to stare down the collateral damage she’s causing and ponder the ripple effects of revenge.

Huertas, a veteran of the Banderas/Zeta-Jones “Zorro” movies and “The Crime of Padre Amaro,” makes a formidable, frail and flawed heroine, someone we root for even as we see the toll this quest is taking and the flaws in the plan before Soco does.

Saint-Martin gets compelling performances out of the supporting players as well as he sets this old-people-paced ticking clock tale in play. Many of those involved are racing against Father Time himself as an aged protagonist and a couple of even more enfeebled peers seek revenge on criminals and their enablers within a corrupt system, with even the villains dying out all around Soco.

Saint-Martin’s moving, inspired-by-true-events and characters debut feature avoids the obvious “vengeance thriller” traps and makes us think and relate to the great wrongs of the present day that may never be reconciled to anyone’s satisfaction.

Generations take to the streets and rally around “We Will Not Be Moved.” But generation after generation, they are moved, shoved, beaten, killed or just disappeared. Is revenge closure, or just another waypoint on the unjust road to futility?

Rating: violence, smoking, profanity

Cast: Luisa Huertas, José Alberto Patiño, Agustina Quinci, Juan Carlos Colombo,
Pedro Hernández, Gabriella Aguire and Alberto Trujillo.

Credits: Directed by Pierre Saint-Martin, scripted by
Iker Compeán Leroux and Pierre Saint-Martin. A Cinema Tropical release coming to Hulu Jan. 1.

Running time: 1:39