Miss Bala

An intense and tragic experience. Stephanie Sigman is extraordinary in the lead role, during a movie where the camera is unreletingly focused on her for virtually the entire runtime. It's well shot too, with Naranjo taking a sort of no nonsense approach, keeping it simple and single camera whilst using sound very effectively. This really worked very well during the shootouts which although fleetingly brief, were very exciting. Recommended.

I really enjoyed how this film was shot. Lot's of long shots help paint the bleakness of the story. Set in Mexico's eternal drug war, the way the shots linger allows the viewer more time to consider the situation and get into the character's head a little more. That said, it falls flat (although more exciting) in the second and third acts.

Distractingly nonsensical story logic aside, this is a strong, stylish and captivating thriller.

Naranjo's film is a solid enough thriller but not a great deal more. The hyper-real style of directing (handheld cameras and lots of close-ups) enables an instant claustrophobic tension and fear which is quite effective initially but does wear thin with time. Likewise, the constant focus on the Laura character intensifies our sympathy for her, however the actress's performance is more one-note than standout. It has its moments and is one of the year's better films, but could have aimed higher...

Very tense and claustrophobic. And the shootout scenes had a sort of scariness to them that I haven't seen before I think, very nice sound design for them. Effective, but it lacks... nuance, maybe.

It's absurd ... and it knows it ... but it plays the absurdism as bleak tragedy instead of comedy. It's a powerful idea (based loosely on a true story), but a little bit weak by one major fault. The film is entirely from Sigman's point of view, and she's so entirely in the dark as to what's really going on at times that the film leaves the viewer out of the plot.

An interesting film coming out of Mexico that includes a lot of its culture and issues. Well filmed with some realistic action scenes and tense drama.

So fucking intense, and filled with great tracking shots.

when you're literally strapping money to the poor girl's waist you probably need to work on your subtlety. this is painfully agenda-driven in general, and it only survives by virtue of its ability to evoke laura's helplessness and disorientation via a mixture of immediate, chaotic long-takes and dreamy slow pans. i loved the cacophony of communication devices the most, more emphasis on process would've suited me better. as it is, it's a stylistic triumph, just not ultimately very interesting.

A disturbing film (a disturbing situation) The lead performance captures feelings of isolation and helplessness brilliantly.

A young woman's helpless & blameless descent into the madness of Mexico's drug war is interesting in itself but the film built around that just fails to engage.

A disorienting descent into hell on earth made engaging by its detached and realistic yet uncomfortably tense style but it falls just short of achieving its social-commentary ambitions.

I'm not sure this is much more than an awareness movie. Soderbergh's Haywire, as a point of contrast, owns its action-movie identity in a way that MB never does. Naranjo's film, on the other hand, always seems to be driving straight ahead into making its profound statement that drugs are bad for humanity, especially in Mexico. As a result, I felt like the film was dragging me to its conclusion, rather than allowing me to discover it.

A Tijuana Godfather, where the viewer sympathizes with the narco patrón for at least the first three acts.

"Unlike Terri, the latest, most commercial venture from his friend and AFI schoolmate Azazel Jacobs, Miss Bala doesn't sublimate Gerardo Naranjo's strengths into a commercially viable package." - Phil Coldiron

So many purposingly unanswered questions which make movie "easy". Like the ending. Director/Screenwriter wanted to make some mind blowing thing at there, but you know what? There is no spoon.

meksika, güzellik yarismasi, mafya, mekan basmak, baskin, mafyaya calisan polis, kurye, güzellik kralicesi, köprüye adam asmak, uyusturucu ticareti, suikast, infaz, arabaya sürükleyerek öldürmek, güzel kizin yem olarak kullanilmasi

Mexico's entry for Oscar's Foreign Language category, this is kind of acting I was expecting from Drive.

Like Drive, it's brilliant arthouse action and one of the best films of 2011. It's a totally thrilling and traumatic experience.