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A girl, a number of guns, also some cars: recombining knowingly archetypal elements from Gerardo Naranjo’s first two features, Drama/Mex and I’m Gonna Explode, Kokoloko is delightfully loose and unconstrained. In Oaxaca, Marisol (Alejandra Herrera) loves Mundo (Noé Hernández), much to the disapproval of her thuggish cousin Mauro (Eduardo Mendizábal), who literally picks her up and throws her in his car to separate the two. The not-quite-love-triangle unfolds in a larger, equally unsettled arena: road blockades are plotted, cartels are in orbit, and violence erupts at every level. The beachside backdrop recalls the Acapulco setting of Drama/Mex, Marisol and Mundo’s lovers-on-the-run arc I’m […]...

A girl, a number of guns, also some cars: recombining knowingly archetypal elements from Gerardo Naranjo’s first two features, Drama/Mex and I’m Gonna Explode, Kokoloko is delightfully loose and unconstrained. In Oaxaca, Marisol (Alejandra Herrera) loves Mundo (Noé Hernández), much to the disapproval of her thuggish cousin Mauro (Eduardo Mendizábal), who literally picks her up and throws her in his car to separate the two. The not-quite-love-triangle unfolds in a larger, equally unsettled arena: road blockades are plotted, cartels are in orbit, and violence erupts at every level. The beachside backdrop recalls the Acapulco setting of Drama/Mex, Marisol and Mundo’s lovers-on-the-run arc I’m […]...

“Kokoloko” is a film about frustration — it’s a woozy and violent product of the same inertia that it so viscerally portrays. Nine years ago, the gifted Mexican filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo seemed poised for a bold career on the international stage. Cartel thriller “Miss Bala” had coalesced the raw energy of the writer-director’s earlier work into a bitter lament for the collateral damage that drug wars have sown across his homeland, and Hollywood was eager to import Naranjo’s talent north of the border and sell it for spare parts.

Denied the resources to develop his own projects, Naranjo was put to work in all of the most obvious places (his recent credits include episodes of “Narcos” and “Fear the Walking Dead”). Prior to “Kokoloko,” he hadn’t made a feature since his “crossover” success in 2011, and Catherine Hardwicke’s risible 2019 remake of “Miss Bala” only added insult to injury.

"The odyssey of a Oaxacan girl..." The Match Factory has debuted the festival promo trailer for a Mexican drama titled Kokoloko, which is the latest feature from acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo. He broke out big with his film Miss Bala (which was later remade by Hollywood) but he hasn't made a film since that premiered in 2011. Now he's back with Kokoloko! Set in a tropical seaside village on the Oaxacan coast, Marisol pursues personal freedom while navigating between the two men in her life - her lover, and her violent cousin who is keeping her captive. Starring Alejandra Herrera as Marisol, along with Noé Hernández and Eduardo Mendizábal. This has that old school, grainy 16mm style to it that makes it all the more dream-like. I am looking forward to seeing what Naranjo has created for us this time. Not only a story about toxic masculinity, but a story...