Based on the synopsis and the reputation of director Escalante, I expected a "difficult" arthouse film, but it turned out as an involving thriller-like story, very intense, with a good pace and well acted. The setting in this bleak and barren part of rural Mexico, and around a modern bunker-like villa seemingly in the middle of nowhere, gives it a disorienting, almost surreal feel, in sync with the premise of a young man in search for his mother, who a few years earlier got abducted and disappeared into thin air.
There's some serious criticism towards the corrupt and violent (even homicidal) police, the relentless dominance of big corporations over helpless locals, and the gap between the rich and the poor. Impetuous Emiliano (Juan Daniel García Treviño) wants to make a stand against all this injustice, and at the same time hopes to find out who is responsible for his mother's disappearance. But he time and again fails to find the right way to do this, ignoring the warnings of his cautious family and friends, and stubbornly bringing himself in danger. When he at last ends up exasperated and a chased fugitive, he is only saved by a member of the rich and powerful family that he so hates.
Garcia Treviño does a great job as Emiliano, convincingly making his anger and confusion palpable. Fernando Bonilla is equally convincing as the rich, self-indulgent and erratic Rigoberto. I liked the direction and the editing, with frantic action alternated by long introspective scenes of quiet looking out over the barren landscape, evoking a sense of intensity and foreboding.
