Miss Bala

Mexico

A young woman trying to escape poverty enrolls in a beauty contest, witnesses a gang mass slaying and finds herself entrapped in the violent, crazed world of Mexican drug lords.

Astonishing you-are-there effect of POV and tracking shots. Also the film seems to be shot in real time. And no one is glamorized. Our sympathy for this woman grows as her  life gets totally upended...she sees no way out and after a while neither do we.

Powerful film which hammers home its message while focusing all our attention on this poor young woman and her plight. She (Stephanie Sigman) is terrific.

7