Miss Bala is a harrowing new Mexican thriller that’s one of the first major exports from the country exploring the terrifying and ever-escalating drug war ravaging it’s streets. Since 2006, 36000 people have died as a result of the powder-fueled turmoil and given that many areas don’t even have an official police presence anymore out of fear, it’s difficult to even say if that’s an accurate figure. Director Gerardo Naranjo doesn’t dare try to create some grand, ambitious study of the drug war, instead focusing in on the story of a single casualty, showing how easy it is to end up in the middle of this mess. It’s an impressive little firecracker of a movie that should be a frontrunner in this year’s Best Foreign Film Oscar race, but you know, those awards are kind of a shame.
The film follows a young would-be beauty queen from Tijuana played by Stephanie Sigman. After getting through the first round of a local beauty contest, she heads out to a small garage party with a friend to celebrate. Unfortunately, she inadvertently ends up in the middle of a shoot out between rival drug cartels that slaughters most of the partygoers. She’s soon kidnapped by a few of the gun-totting folks for witnessing what went down and probably would have ended up dead herself were it not for her good looks. Instead, the cartel starts using her as a driver and drug runner. She doesn’t have a choice. She doesn’t know when it will end. Confused and terrified, she merely does what she’s told hoping that it will all be over soon.
Naranjo’s film can be a somewhat confusing and disorienting watch, but deliberately so. Sigman appears in every frame and we’re trapped in her perspective from start to finish. The cartel never explains what they’re up to or their plans for Sigman and nor would they. She’s merely a pawn who they are willing to take advantage of for as long as she proves valuable. More victims will come along after her and the people calling the blood-drenched shots could be dead tomorrow. But with billions of dollars to be made in an impoverished country, no one cares. That’s what’s so frightening about the war itself and Miss Bala plays like a perfect microcosm. The whole country is powerlessly caught up in this war and there’s no real authority to appeal to make it stop. They’re merely stuck in the middle trying to remain uninvolved and powerlessly hoping it will end.
Alright, so I got a little pretentious there, but don’t worry this isn’t an impenetrable art film requiring two espressos and a film studies degree to properly digest. In the end, this sucker is a thriller and a damn good one at that. Sigman is powerless in a potentially fatal situation and it’s terrifying to watch unfold. Never once does she try to join the cartel. She’s merely politely doing what she’s told and rather quickly ends up involved with bombings, assassinations, and smuggling cash n’ drugs across the US boarder. Of course, she never knows she’s involved in any of these dirty dealings until she’s in the middle of it and watching those crimes escalate is absolutely gut-wrenching.
Sigman is excellent in the film, smoothly transitioning from a bubbly innocent beauty to a captive criminal with a tragic end (spoiler alert? Come on, is there any conceivable way this story could end well?). The actors playing the criminals are frightening mysterious, blood-thirsty, and calculated without ever giving away their motives. Naranjo shoots the shit out of the screenplay that he co-wrote, using cold and detached widescreen compositions that make the audience a passive viewer for most of the film before uncomfortably forcing us into Sigman’s perspective during the harshest scenes. The style is somewhat reminiscent of last year’s brilliant Mexican cannibal horror story We Are What We Are, while still feeling very much like Naranjo’s own piece. It’s an incredibly accomplished work from a burgeoning director that immediately signals him out as a major talent to watch.
Miss Bala isn’t in danger of being slapped with labels like “the feel-good film of 2012,” but if you can stomach the nausea-inducing uncertainty and brutality it is one hell of a night at the movies. There will undoubtedly be many more drug cartel movies to slip out of Mexico over the next few years and probably a sensationalized Hollywood entry or two. While I’m certain there are other films based on the subject matter as good as Miss Bala yet to be made, it’s unlikely anything will top it. The film offers white-knuckle suspense and a politically conscience screenplay that makes you feel smart and cultured for understanding it while you’re being entertained. What more could you possibly want?
Rating: 
Rated 14A
Cast: Stephanie Sigman, Noe Hernandez, and Irene Azuela
Directed by: Gerardo Naranjo
Top image: A scene from Miss Bala. Courtesy Mongrel Media.
