Wrong place at the wrong time would begin to describe the worst few days of one young Mexican woman’s (Stephanie Sigman) life. Trying to find out what happened to her friend after a drug gang shoots up a dance club, she finds herself a pawn caught between the dealers and the DEA gringos in the border wars around Tijuana. Also, she’s a contestant in a local beauty pageant. That last part comes off as more surreal than quirky in a suspense drama that’s deliberately paced but rewarding. Sigman, as a character who throughout the film can’t tell whether her best move is to stay with the dealers or try to escape, conveys realistic fear throughout. The dealers, too, are realistic, as banal as they are fearsome. Despite its pessimistic take on the country’s ongoing drug wars and corruption, this film was a hit in Mexico.
viewed at Ritz East [Philadelphia Film Festival screening] and reviewed 10/25/11
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