Miss Bala, 2011.
Directed by Gerardo Naranjo.
Starring Stephanie Sigman, Noe Hernandez, Irene Azuela, Miguel Couturier, Gabriel Heads, Jose Yenque and James Russo.
SYNOPSIS:
An aspiring beauty queen is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel and quickly finds herself sucked into the vicious world of South American drug trafficking.
Films about the South American drug trade usually seem to adopt one of two narratives; either they take the Scarface approach of following a young gang-banger as he rises through the ranks of his local cartel, or they centre on an honest cop who struggles to make a stand amid all the police corruption. So with that it mind, Mexican filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo’s (I’m Gonna Explode) latest film, Miss Bala, comes as a refreshing change, offering as it does a female protagonist, and an aspiring beauty queen at that. Still, don’t be fooled into thinking this is Mexico’s answer to Miss Congeniality – literally translated, ‘Miss Bala’ means ‘Miss Bullet’, and the film itself is packed with all of the brutal, gun-toting violence you’d expect from such a title.
A cash-strapped young woman, Laura (Stephanie Sigman), enters the ‘Miss Baja California’ beauty pageant with hopes of escaping a life of poverty, but her dreams are almost snatched away when she attends a nightclub with a friend and gets caught up in a shoot-out between the police and the local drug cartel. With her friend missing, Laura attempts to contact the police but instead finds herself handed over to the gang and is soon forced to run errands on behalf of their leader, Lino Valdez (Noe Hernandez). Furthermore, Valdez also ‘arranges’ for Laura to win the Miss Baja California pageant – a position that enables her to gain access to some of the most important figures in Mexico’s war on drugs.
Serving as an expose on the deep-seated corruption and violence that is rife in Mexican society, Miss Bala does a fine job of highlighting just how easy it is for innocent bystanders to become unwittingly sucked into the murky world of the Mexican drug trade. It’s also a technically accomplished film, with director Naranjo channeling Michael Mann for his staging of the exciting action set-pieces and incorporating a gritty, hand-held style that throws the viewer right into the thick of the action. In terms of the cast, Stephanie Sigman delivers an engaging and sympathetic performance in the lead role as Laura, while Noe Hernandez also deserves credit for his work as the ruthless and manipulative mob boss Valdez.
Despite being snubbed by the Academy for a nomination in the category of Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscars, Miss Bala is certainly a solid effort that provides a strong mix of gripping, fast-paced action and thought-provoking drama.
Originally published February 20, 2012. Updated April 12, 2018.
