Reviews

This review may contain subtle spoilers.

Although the review below does not contain any specific spoilers, the gist of it could allow the reader to guess the movies final outcome, especially the penultimate paragraph.

Miss Baha is a film that is almost great but not quite there hence my 7/10 rating. It's the story of Laura, a 23 year old working class Mexican girl who with her friend is trying to get a rung up the ladder by entering a beauty contest. Miss Congeniality this is not. Through a series of unlucky breaks and circumstances, Laura falls into a spiral of ever more perilous situations. Every decision she makes pushes her further away from her previous normal existence as she becomes ever more entwined in Mexico's de facto civil war between the US backed authorities and the Mexican drug cartels.

 

The film despite being almost 2 hours long never loses your attention as the plot unfolds at quite a pace. The lead actress Stephanie Sigman gives an excellent performance as a normal person having to cope with ever more dangerous circumstances.

 

Noe Hernandez playing the besieged leader of the drugs cartel portrays a man who seems to know that even though things are looking bleak for him, he somehow instinctively knows that he'll probably survive. He portrays the characters evil and violent deeds in a very matter of fact way as though he is so used to the violence that it's just another day in the office for him. A very good performance.

 

The film has scenes of real menace when you just don't know how Laura is going to escape her latest predicament and has very well handled action scenes. There's a good sense of realism and a big pat on the back should go to the sound crew who have created an excellent sound mix with very realistic and naturalistic sound effects punctuated by ear shattering gun shots and explosions.  The desaturated photography adds to the gritty realism and use of mostly close up and medium shots add to the claustrophobic situation that Laura finds her self in.

 

Now for the problem. Having thought about the movie over night, it ends up being a procession of ever more dangerous episodes for Laura rather than being what was probably intended as an expose of the chaotic Mexican drug war. For Laura to be in the situations she is in. she must have bought a number 13 raffle ticket, walked under a ladder while tripping over a black cat and breaking her fall by smashing into a mirror. However as the film progresses it does clearly show the corruption in Mexican society and the futility in trying to do the right thing.

 

Recommended to see in a cinema because of the 2.35:1 wide screen photography and the excellent sound or just rent the Blu-ray if you've got a big TV and good surround sound.