Whether you disliked or enjoyed “Emilia Pérez,” the French-produced, Netflix-distributed musical about a Mexican cartel boss who undergoes gender transition, the conversation around it should hopefully inspire you to seek a deeper understanding of the ongoing violence that afflicts Mexico. More than 110,000 people are still missing and thousands more have died as a result of the drug war, with more casualties reported daily.
For the better part of the last two decades, numerous Mexican directors, working in both fiction and documentary, have addressed their country’s situations head-on through their films. We’ve compiled some of the better ones in the list below. A quick note: All but one are available via streaming, video-on-demand or in theaters.
Devil’s Freedom (La libertad del diablo) [2017]
One of the most essential cinematic works about the human devastation caused by the drug war, Everardo González’s unflinching documentary confronts the viewer with raw, shocking testimonies from both the perpetrators of abhorrent crimes and the victims and their families. All of their faces are covered with the same mask, both to preserve their anonymity but also for powerful effect: People on both sides of the bloodshed look virtually the same. As some of the subjects confess to what they’ve done and others painfully retell their experience on the receiving end, an overwhelming collective sorrow is transmitted.
This is the only film on this list that’s not available in the U.S.
Heli [2013]
There’s no sugarcoating that this naturalistic drama features a graphic sequence of harrowing violence that may prove too difficult for some audiences to stomach. What writer-director Amat Escalante depicts is, however, not far-fetched given what happens in reality. When army cadet Beto (Juan Eduardo Palacios) steals confiscated cocaine from his superiors, his girlfriend, Estela (Andrea Vergara), and her brother Heli (Armando Espitia) become entangled in a series of deadly events involving both drug traffickers and the corrupt authorities. Escalante builds an atmosphere of otherworldly despair that overwhelms with its stark assertion of how seemingly insurmountable the horrors are.
Streaming on Prime Video and Tubi
Identifying Features (Sin señas particulares) [2020]
Learning that her child suffered a terrible death is not the worst thing for a mother to discover, at least not in the context of this earth-shattering masterpiece from Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero. After her son goes missing while on his way to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, Magdalena (Mercedes Hernández) embarks on a treacherous journey to find him with the help of her new friend Miguel (David Illescas), a deported migrant. Through images laced in solemn lyricism, the filmmakers unearth the truth about what happened in a soul-crushing conclusion that’s sure to leave viewers speechless.
Streaming on Max; available on VOD
Noise (Ruido) [2022]
Director Natalia Beristáin cast her own mother, seasoned actress Julieta Egurrola, to play Julia, a woman who, like thousands of people all over Mexico, is trying to find a loved one who’s disappeared. Amid the despair and without information on her daughter’s whereabouts, Julia finds support and strength in other women whose lives also have been upended by the violence. Together, they refuse to be ignored. Egurrola’s visceral, devastating performance burns with a mix of fury and conviction as her character navigates the difficult emotions generated by losing someone in such a horrifying way.
Streaming on Netflix
Northern Skies Over Empty Space (El norte sobre el vacio) [2022]
Based on real events, this tonally complex and superbly acted drama from versatile director Alejandra Márquez Abella examines the intricacies of outdated masculinity in a patriarchal society like Mexico’s. At the center of this ensemble piece is charismatic Don Reynaldo (Gerardo Trejoluna), a brash landowner and avid hunter in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. When a cartel tries to extort him, he vows to defend his precious territory from the invaders. The cocky decision will have unnerving ramifications. Amid the chaos, his close employee Rosa (a fantastic Paloma Petra) emerges as an audacious force.
Streaming on Prime Video
Prayers for the Stolen (Noche de fuego) [2021]
For young girls in a small town in the state of Jalisco, it’s normal to wear their hair short and to be aware of places to hide when ill-intentioned men arrive from outside. Their mothers have warned them they could be taken. That’s the only reality Ana (as a kid played by Ana Cristina Ordóñez González) and her friends have ever known. Liberally adapted from Jennifer Clement’s novel, director Tatiana Huezo’s first fiction effort brims with visual poetry as it focuses on the small, wondrous moments of these childhoods surrounded by nature, while the dangers of a place constantly under siege are always looming nearby.
Streaming on Netflix
Sujo [2024]
Raised in hiding from his sicario father’s enemies, teenage Sujo (Juan Jesús Varela) must decide whether he’ll follow the same criminal path or try to carve a different one away from everything he’s ever known. From Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, Mexico’s most recent Oscar entry dares to hope that even someone seemingly destined to repeat his parents’ mistakes can perhaps escape them if offered an opportunity. The two have become the preeminent Mexican filmmakers addressing the consequences of violence through fictional narratives explored with nuance and respect for the ongoing national tragedy.
Playing at Laemmle Glendale, Laemmle Monica Film Center in Santa Monica, Laemmle Town Center in Encino and select theaters around the country.
Tempestad [2016]
With an eye for evocative imagery and piercing observations, acclaimed filmmaker Tatiana Huezo weaves together the stories of two women victimized by the collusion between government institutions and criminal organizations. Impunity runs rampant in Mexico. Framed for a crime she didn’t commit, Miriam spent time in prison under dehumanizing conditions. Meanwhile, Adela, a circus performer, has spent years searching for her daughter, who was abducted by powerful men. Huezo honors these fearless women’s resilience in the face of their individual plights, which emanate from the same corrosive societal ills.
Streaming on Tubi (available only in Spanish with no English subtitles)
The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo (Las tres muertes de Marisela Escobedo) [2020]
Ruby Frayre was murdered at age 16 by her boyfriend in Ciudad Juarez. On top of the unbearable grief, her mother, Marisela Escobedo, had to live knowing that the killer was a free man. For years, she conducted her own investigation to find him. But as documentarian Carlos Perez Osorio effectively portrays in this hard-hitting production, her efforts were noticed by nefarious criminal forces who wouldn’t benefit from justice being served. The film is at once a portrait of Escobedo’s unwavering strength and an indictment of a justice system that serves the victimizers more than the Mexican people.
Streaming on Netflix
Tigers Are Not Afraid (Vuelven) [2017]
This frightful fable from writer-director Issa López (“True Detective: Night Country”) takes place in an abandoned Mexican city now mostly populated by orphans whose parents became victims of the cartel-related carnage. One of those kids, Estrella (Paola Lara), joins a gang of self-reliant boys led by the no-nonsense El Shine (Juan Ramón López) in order to fight back. With deliberately employed visual effects, Lopez builds a vision propelled by its own mythology where gritty realism meets the darkly fantastical. As real-life danger threatens the brave young heroes, supernatural forces will intercede in their defense.
Streaming on Shudder; available on VOD
A Wolfpack Called Ernesto (Una jauría llamada Ernesto) [2023]
Every person who appears in this hard-hitting and utterly necessary documentary by Everardo González is filmed from behind. The camera never reveals their faces, but their first-hand accounts are chilling. Though the title references a single name, there are many subjects: young men from marginalized neighborhoods or towns who gain access to firearms and swiftly are swallowed by the inescapable brutality of organized crime in Mexico. A single bullet changes the trajectory of their lives. Joining the ranks of those who terrorize the population seemed to be their only viable chance at security and prosperity.
Streaming on VIX
