The story varies a little depending on who tells it, but the gist is simple. Basically: long ago, a woman named Maria married a rich man, with whom she eventually had two children. Then their marriage hit a rough patch: her husband spent less and less time at home, and whenever he was home, he paid attention only to the children. Eventually, she sees him with another woman. Enraged beyond reason, some versions claim Maria drowned her two children—but she immediately regretted it, crying out, “Ay, mis hijos!” (Translation: “Oh, my children!” or “Oh, my sons!”) Maria is sometimes said to have drowned herself afterward. But when she arrived at heaven’s gates, she was denied entry, banished back to purgatory on Earth until she could find her lost children. She’s now known as La Llorona, which translates to “the weeping woman.”

Now, the legend says, she floats over and near bodies of water in her white, funereal gown, forever weeping as she searches for her lost children. Some versions of the story say she kidnaps or attacks children; others say she attacks cheating husbands. Regardless, when you hear her cries, the directive remains the same: run away.

La Llorona has directly inspired and/or influenced several movies over the years—including the 1933 Mexican film La Llorona, the 1963 Mexican film La Maldición de la Llorona (The Curse of La Llorona), 2006’s KM 31: Kilómetro 31, and 2013’s Mama, from Andy Muschietti and Guillermo del Toro. (Muschietti, who directed 2017’s It remake as well as Mama, is Argentinean; del Toro, who executive-produced, is Mexican.) The latest film to tackle the legend, The Curse of La Llorona, stars Linda Cardellini as a non-Hispanic white woman whose late husband was Latino. Much of the film’s supporting cast, however, is Hispanic—and according to The Hollywood Reporter, “many of the film’s casting, directorial, and creative choices suggest a commitment to grounding this film within a Latin American world.”