Miss Bala (2011)

After entering a beauty contest in Tijuana, a young woman witnesses drug-related murders and is forced to do the gang's bidding.

Director:

Gerardo Naranjo

Writers:

Gerardo Naranjo, Mauricio Katz

Stars:

Stephanie Sigman, Noé Hernández, Irene Azuela

3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephanie Sigman	...	Laura Guerrero
Juan Carlos Galván	...	Arturo Guerrero
Noé Hernández	...	Lino Valdez
Irene Azuela	...	Jessica Verduzo
Javier Zaragoza	...	Ramón Guerrero
Lakshmi Picazo	...	Azucena 'Suzu' Ramos
Jose Yenque	...	Kike Cámara
James Russo	...	Jimmy
Leonor Victorica	...	Luisa Janes
Gabriel Heads	...	Agent Bell
Hugo Márquez	...	Javi Fernández
Miguel Couturier	...	General Salomón Duarte
Eduardo Mendizábal	...	Quiño
Sergio Gómez Padilla	...	Parca
Felipe Morales	...	Tío

Storyline

At 23, Laura Guerro and her friend Suzu enter the Miss Baja pageant. Both qualify, and while Laura waits at a nightclub for Suzu to break away so they can go shopping, a heavily-armed drug gang murders drug enforcement officials there. Laura escapes unharmed but can't find Suzu, so the next day she looks for her; her dogged behavior brings her to the cartel's attention, and they force her to assist them as they menace her father and younger brother. Lino, the gang's leader, decides Laura should finish the pageant although her only interest is escape. Every day drags her deeper and corruption is pervasive. What alternative is there to death or prison?

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | beauty pageant | drug war | audition | tijuana mexico | 

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Taglines:

Don't mess with Family.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some brutal violence and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Mexico USA

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

9 September 2011 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Miss Bala

Filming Locations:

Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canana Films, Fox International Productions (FIP), Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (IMCINE)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film poster is inspired by the album cover of Janet Jackson's 1993 self titled album, Janet, shot by Patrick DeMarchelier.

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Connections

Remade as Miss Bala (2019)

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Soundtracks

MBC Backstage
Written and performed by Santiago Cendejas

User Reviews

Enjoyable Enlightening Mexican Drugs and Gun Thriller

I like foreign language films and this is right up there as one which can be enjoyed from beginning to end. It is a Mexican film in Spanish language with perfect subtitles in English on DVD.

The story is of course about a young girl called Laura who has a dream of becoming a Beauty queen while also being a story about how she gets caught up and used in a drugs war.

There is no doubt that Laura is portrayed as a very stubborn character and is presented with opportunities to escape from her dangerous situations but she is possessed of fear what might happen to her Father and Brother.

She has seen that the Mexican police could not be trusted, so who could she trust? The film also illustrates how a drug cartel might also influence the outcome of a Beauty pageant to instill fear and control over one of its participants.

Yes it is a little depressing but a riveting drama thriller to watch. Considering the subject matter, there is nothing graphically sexual and no outlandish bad language, there are a couple of sex scenes but the filming generally is carefully considered and respectable.