There were only a handful of films at this year’s NYFF that truly excited me. One of those films was Gerardo Naranjo’s Mexican drug drama, Miss Bala, which stars Stephanie Sigman as the unfortunate victim of the corrupt Mexican government and their drug cartel counterparts.
Miss Bala, which is inspired by a true story, is about a beauty pageant contestant named Laura Guerrero who unfortunately gets stuck in a bathroom of a club when a drug cartel ambushes the joint, massacring the crowd. After the disappearance of her friend that night, Laura approaches the police for help but instead they deliver her to the cartel leader. At that moment she loses her freedom and is forced to do illegal jobs for the cartel in exchange for finding her friend, returning to the beauty pageant, and keeping both her family and herself alive. The movie is about just one of the thousands of people whose lives are affected daily by the drug trade and corruption in Mexico.
When the credits rolled I was very torn about the film. I had different expectations of what I thought I was going to be seeing because of the way the trailer was cut. While it promised drama and action, it seemed as if it was going to move at a much faster pace than it actually did, which is why I was so antsy during the screening. I also thought that Laura would start to accept her fate and become one with the cartel, being sucked into a system she originally wanted nothing part of, but I was dead wrong. Now all of this isn’t necessarily bad, there were parts of the film that I absolutely loved but most of it came from the technical side and the actual message of the film rather than the story and performances.
I hate to say this but I really wasn’t a fan of most of the acting in the film. I thought Stephanie Sigman had moments of brilliance where she was able to truly connect with the audience but for most of the film she wasn’t very captivating. The story made me feel bad for her but she wasn’t engaging enough which prevented me from sympathizing with her character. I blame part of this on her character’s flaws and then the rest on her. I pretty much have the same opinion about the performances of the other main supporting actors/actresses in the film.
The cinematography and the message were the two aspects of the film that I absolutely relished. Naranjo’s beautifully shot film captures the true essence of Mexico’s drug trade and poverty stricken areas through its gritty portrayal and on location shooting. But what really stole my heart were the long, sweeping shots and camera work. I’m a sucker for uncut scenes and a majority of the movie’s scenes were always long takes, ranging from one to five minute shots. The beauty 
about this way of shooting is that you can’t get distracted; it allows you to easily focus on the character and current situation without worrying about anything else. Not only that, it makes the film seem more realistic because you are never cutting away to other people in the room, you feel like a bystander looking back and forth between the other characters.
As for the message, this movie is all about the issue of trust in Mexico. Because of the amount of corruption that exists, it becomes nearly impossible to figure out who you can approach if you are somehow being affected by the drug cartels. If you end up going to a corrupt officer you may end up being kidnapped or killed. It’s a terrible thing and a real problem that faces the nation today. If you walk away from the film understanding how much of a problem this is in Mexico than Naranjo has done his job effectively. Much of your enlightenment will result from the rather shocking ending and its clear explanation as to the extent of Mexico’s problems.
In the end, Miss Bala is a long and slow, action drama that is very informative and sheds authentic light on a real and significant issue in Mexico. While it is nowhere near as captivating as it could be, it is still worth a watch for its beautiful cinematography and technical achievements. Gerardo Naranjo is going to have one hell of a career if he manages to stick with story and character driven pieces, I just hope is able to pull out better performances from his cast in the future.
Rating: A slow burning and superbly shot drug drama (6.4/10)
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