Miss Bala

A new addition to the growing hyper-real crime genre that would make Michael Mann and Scorsese proud. Much of it owes to the gritty realism that is so well established here, and yes I'm aware I'm repeating myself twice here. It carries a cold dread similar to the type another foreign film, not too long ago, contained - Matteo Garrone's "Gomorrah" and a visual aesthetic inspired quite a bit by Michael Mann. I could easily see both of these films being played as a double-feature as a showcase of modern hyper-realistic crime films which you cannot deny is becoming popular, even if these are early beginnings and such films are very few and far between. This film was loosely based on a real life pageant missus Laura Zúñiga which got herself into a similar type situation back in 2008. It's the type of a film that is for the patient viewer who doesn't mind the somewhat slow(er) pace, but you get a decent rewarding with the gritty realism every once in a while. It's thoughtprovoking and quite a close look at how quick getting involved with crime ruins one's life. Which to me, is in itself both sad and profound to observe. With Gomorrah and now Miss Bala, I would describe these films as "artcrime" as that is what these films are like, beautiful, calm and gritty. This is an overall solid film.