Miss Bala (which translates as Miss Bullet) focuses on Laura, an average young woman living in Tijuana, Mexico, who dreams of becoming a beauty queen one day. She lives with her father and brother and the family make a living by selling clothes. Laura and her friend Suzu attend an audition for regional beauty contest Miss Baja where they are somewhat reluctantly put through to the second round. From there the girls end up at a squalid nightclub where Suzu hangs out with corrupt DEA agents. As Laura changes in the toilets, out of her beauty contest clothing and into the jeans and baggy t-shirt attire she feels more comfortable in, a gang with guns stealthily sneak into the club. What ensues is a torrent of bullets and almost everybody in the club is killed, but Laura escapes with a roll of money from a gang member who turns out to be the leader Lino. Laura seeks the help of a police officer to try and find her friend but is lead straight back to Lino and she finds herself embroiled in the gang and its activities.
Obviously Miss Bala is loosely based on real situations and gang related violence that has become the norm in Mexico in recent years and the realness of the story does make the film even more hard hitting. This is an impressive film for many reasons. Firstly, the acting is superb, newcomer Stephanie Sigman is remarkable as the main protagonist Laura and she suitably portrays the shell-shocked state of the character as she is thrown into one task after another, her life being controlled by Lino. Noe Hernandez is also brilliant as the gang leader and makes the character intriguing yet repulsive.
The few choices that Laura makes are surprising and the events portrayed in the film are shocking and enlightening. The choices of the filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo, who co-wrote, directed and edited the film, are also surprising. Naranjo chooses to show us the back of Laura’s head quite a lot and this unusual point of view of the main character gives a feeling of detachment and strange isolation. There are beautiful 360o tracking shots that depict situations and give a disorientating feeling reflecting Laura’s experience. Naranjo’s direction is original and refreshing and I will definitely be seeking out his previous work now.
Miss Bala has a strange pace to it, it feels slow and there is plenty of time to reflect on situations, but at the same time as so much happens it feels like a bombardment of action even though there are only a few action scenes. The one action scene that stands out is where the gang are having a shoot-out with the police, Laura stumbles into the middle of it, the sound is incredible and I felt every moment of it as if I were Laura, it felt so real. Real is the best word to describe the film, it feels real from beginning to end and I was riveted from beginning to end.
My only criticism would be that some of the actual activities and locations are a little confusing and not really explained at times. However, generally we are given just the correct amount of information, the film avoiding spelling everything out to its audience. The camera stays with Laura as the events unfold around her and while the point of view is very much hers it has an almost neutral feel, never overly dramatizing events such as the sex scene and the violence, which actually makes it all the more shocking. Naranjo doesn’t build up gang boss Lino either, choosing a more impartial view, even though he is notorious.
The facts revealed at the end of the film about the amount of people killed in Mexico, 36,000 between 2006 and 2011, as a result of the drugs war makes the film all the more real and harrowing. Executive producers Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna add extra kudos to a film with excellent direction and outstanding performances. The story feels fresh and is unpredictable. This is a thrilling and gripping film that will open your eyes to a current crisis in an entertaining and intelligent way.
Miss Bala will no doubt be compared to City of God (2002) and it is certainly in the same league.
Director: Gerardo Naranjo
Cast: Stephanie Sigman, Irene Azuela, Noe Hernandez, James Russo, Jose Yenque
Runtime: 113 mins
Country: Mexico-USA
Film Rating: 
