Terrifying

zetes

A terrifying descent into Hell. Stephanie Sigman stars as a 23 year-old woman who enters the Miss Baja California beauty pageant in her hometown of Tijuana. Apparently, the pageant is partially run by drug lords (the story is at least in part based on real-life events), and Sigman finds herself quickly sucked into a war between criminals and drug enforcement, and the latter is no more moral than the former. This film is deliberately paced, but gripping as Hell and insanely scary, scarier than any horror movie I saw this year. Sigman is excellent in the lead. Sometimes it's hard to follow, but I think that's on purpose, as the whole film is told from the point of view of Sigman, who probably isn't all that clear on what's happening to her much of the time. Director Naranjo certainly posits himself as a director to watch (I'll have to go back to see some of his previous films).

score 8/10

zetes 6 January 2013

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2732454/