Direction: Teodora Mihai
Country: Mexico / Romania / other
Co-written and directed by Romanian director Teodora Mihai (Waiting for August, 2014), La Civil is a solid, relentlessly thrilling drama with an ultra-realistic plot based on a real-world story, strong performances, and a resolute direction. On the one side, this is a chilling observation of violent Mexico and the rough ways of its cartels; on the other, it's a depiction of a mother fighting to find her kidnapped daughter while scraping through the abysses of places whose boundaries have been moved.
The actress Arcelia Ramírez impersonates this mother, whose fragility veers to fearlessness as she seals an uncommon agreement with a military unit recently transferred to the small town where she lives. We never let go of the heroine she plays and want to applaud her unremitting investigation to know the truth. Yet, the fear is real and the sense of hopelessness is excruciating. The same cannot be said of her passive husband, Gustavo (Álvaro Guerrero), who had left home to live with a much younger woman.
Mihai grabs hold of her character and the spectators by dragging them into a vertiginous nightmare. Her narrative mechanics never weigh down the power of the story, which works as a social chronicle of a country ravaged by violence and corruption.
