..... you had to use the worst poster possible?

whatever, this is easily the best mexican movie of the last few years. The way they tell the story it almost feels like a documentary of how Mexico is.

Wouldn't shock me to see this nominated for best foreign movie at the Oscars.

A

I used the poster from the Wikipedia page.

An exercise in style as substance concerning an aspiring beauty queen who, in a strange twist, becomes involved with a dangerous Mexican drug cartel. Moment by moment, her peaceful domestic life gives way to abuse, exploitation, and unpredictable eruptions of violence. The content lends itself to a hand-held, rapid-fire documentary style, but this film goes the other way. Each composition is careful and elegant, and the shots tend to be long and complicated in a way reminiscent of, say, Children of Men's war-torn finale. Scenes most films would not show, such as the quiet and tense drive to the hotel where the climactic action unfolds, are presented in full, and within this silence and space there is a surprising, almost wrenching suspense. I admit, it can be a tad frustrating to watch a film where the protagonist is from start to finish just a victim, never a proactive agent: she does not have much to say as she is raped, beaten, and otherwise put in harm's way. This frustration, however, turns to aching fascination when one realizes she is a near perfect symbol for the casual, silent victims of the drug war. We have so many great films focused on colorful gangsters and/or ass-kicking policemen, so here is a fine one focused on the sad and scared people caught in the center of the blazing firefight.

A-