Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength.
Miss Bala (2019) is a remake of the 2011 Mexican film that loses much of the original's gritty realism and moral ambiguity in favor of a more conventional Hollywood action thriller template. The plot follows a predictable survival arc with a woman-in-peril framework that rarely subverts expectations, and the ending feels rushed and unearned. Gina Rodriguez delivers a committed physical performance that elevates the material somewhat, and the cinematography captures the border setting with reasonable competence. However, the film brings little that is distinctive — it softens the bleakness of the source material and recycles familiar cartel-thriller tropes without adding a fresh perspective, making it a largely formulaic entry in the genre.