The story of a young woman clinging on to her dream to become a beauty contest queen in a Mexico dominated by organized crime.
The film itself represents a powerful critique of a society riddled by high-level corruption and lethal violence, in which Laura’s nightmarish plight is a metaphor for the chaos endured by ordinary Mexican people in the disastrous war against drugs.
That innocuous title disguises a Mexican thriller with genuine bite, though the hokey ending doesn't quite live up to the edgy plotting and Sigman's classy turn as a tough heroine in an impossible situation.
Narnajo, director of I’m Gonna Explode, keeps the story rattling along, piling on the action while never losing sight of Laura, the innocent at the centre of the chaos. Sigman, in what is, remarkably, her first feature film, is terrific.
A worthy portrayal of the scale of the tragedy of the Mexican drug wars, but it rarely makes for persuasive cinema and is just too vague and formless to really succeed.
Violent, loud, frequently thrilling.
Clumsy symbolism undermines a tenacious performance from Sigman.
Miss Bala is well made, and conceived as something different from the self-conscious pastiche-homage of Rodriguez or Tarantino. It is trying pretty hard for its effects.
Naranjo reveals himself to be a pretty accomplished action director, but it’s his ability to tease out the details of his complex, socially aware story in subtle, sophisticated ways that ensures it remains compelling right to its thrillingly ambiguous ending.
A chilling, cautionary tale.
Long takes make the horrific seem like the everyday, while Sigman's impressive turn makes this a devastating slow-burner.
Ay caramba! – Gerardo Naranjo's Miss Bala is a powerful film and then some.
Terrifying.
Sigman’s turn is committed and the set-pieces harrowing, but sympathy soon gives way to shellshock.
The beauty and the narcotics beasts
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Friday October 28, 2011, until Thursday November 10, 2011. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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