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IMDbPro

Miss Bala

  • 2019
  • PG-13
  • 1h 44m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
14K
YOUR RATING
Miss Bala (2019)
Gloria (Gina Rodriguez) 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.
Play trailer2:33
12 Videos
50 Photos
Drug CrimeActionCrimeDramaThriller

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.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.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.

  • Director
    • Catherine Hardwicke
  • Writer
    • Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer
  • Stars
    • Gina Rodriguez
    • Thomas Dekker
    • Vivian Chan
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.8/10
    14K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Catherine Hardwicke
    • Writer
      • Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer
    • Stars
      • Gina Rodriguez
      • Thomas Dekker
      • Vivian Chan
    • 167User reviews
    • 77Critic reviews
    • 41Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos12

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:33
    Official Trailer
    A Guide to the Films of Catherine Hardwicke
    Clip 1:39
    A Guide to the Films of Catherine Hardwicke
    A Guide to the Films of Catherine Hardwicke
    Clip 1:39
    A Guide to the Films of Catherine Hardwicke
    Miss Bala: Curbside Chaos
    Clip 1:02
    Miss Bala: Curbside Chaos
    Miss Bala: Special Delivery
    Clip 1:02
    Miss Bala: Special Delivery
    Miss Bala: Proposition
    Clip 1:03
    Miss Bala: Proposition
    Miss Bala: Transformation (Featurette)
    Featurette 1:10
    Miss Bala: Transformation (Featurette)

    Photos50

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    + 44
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    Top cast42

    Edit
    Gina Rodriguez
    Gina Rodriguez
    • Gloria
    Thomas Dekker
    Thomas Dekker
    • Makeup Supervisor
    Vivian Chan
    • Fashion Designer
    Barbarella Pardo
    • MX Customs Officer
    Cristina Rodlo
    Cristina Rodlo
    • Suzu
    Sebastián Cano
    • Chava
    • (as Sebastian Cano Echegollen)
    Gaby Orihuela
    • Pageant Coordinator
    Damián Alcázar
    Damián Alcázar
    • Chief Saucedo
    Ricardo Abarca
    • Poyo
    Ismael Cruz Cordova
    Ismael Cruz Cordova
    • Lino
    • (as Ismael Cruz Córdova)
    Erick Delgadillo
    • Tucán
    • (as Erick Rene Delgadillo Urbina)
    Mikhail Plata
    • Chivo
    Jorge Humberto Millan Mardueño
    • Ortiz
    Job Sarmiento
    • Officer at Club
    Roberto Sosa
    Roberto Sosa
    • Police Officer
    Lilian Tapia
    • Doña Rosita
    • (as Lilian Guadalupe Tapia Robles)
    Henry Torres Blanco
    • Pageant Choreographer
    Matt Lauria
    Matt Lauria
    • Brian Reich
    • Director
      • Catherine Hardwicke
    • Writer
      • Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews167

    5.813.9K
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    Featured reviews

    6michaelkfuller-72750

    Predictable from go

    You can see every plot twist. Eye rolling at its best. Wait for Netflix - wish I had.
    5capone666

    The Vidiot Reviews...

    Miss Bala

    Thanks to all of the vacant space in their heads, beauty pageant contestants make for the best border mules.

    Regrettably, the cartel in this action movie made the mistake of selecting a make-up artist instead.

    While visiting her pageant contestant friend down south, Gloria (Gina Rodriguez) witnesses a gang shooting. But when she goes to the authorities, they take her straight to the gang responsible. Now she must run guns and money across the US border or else they will kill her friend. Meanwhile, the DEA (Anthony Mackie) is also using Gloria to gather Intel on the gang.

    Featuring some of the worst dialogue ever uttered, not to mention the most banal action even scenes recorded, this needlessly convoluted adaptation of the Mexican original is all over the place and nowhere all at once.

    Besides, the best way to smuggle across the US border is to label shipments: Border Wall Material. Red Light
    5larrys3

    Just Fair

    Gina Rodriguez and Ismael Cruz Cordova do well in their lead roles here and for the most part portray believable characters. However, many of the plot elements just came across to me as quite non-believable and the whole movie itself was not engaging enough to rise above a fair rating, as I see it. It does bring to the front though the issues of the debasement and trafficking of women.
    4patrick_mohr

    Can a remake ever beat the original?

    Unfortunately, Miss Bala 2019 do not surpass the original Miss Bala (Cannes Film Festival 2011). This remake lost realism and message from the original.
    6ma-cortes

    Remarkable, violent and gripping film with action , twists and turns

    Gloria Fuentes (Gina Rodriguez) is a Latin-American makeup artist from Los Angeles who visits her best friend Suzu (Christina Rodlo) in Tijuana, Mexico. Her friend is entering the Miss Tijuana pageant , but she is threatened by cartel Las Estrellas . She goes back to Las Estrellas and is sent to San Diego with money and drugs attached to her car. The DEA is still tracking her. She arrives at the Border and is very scared that she will be discovered. She gets through without a problem and goes to the location in the GPS in San Diego, where she meets Jimmy (Anthony Mackie) . After entering a beauty contest : Baja California pegeant in Tijuana, the young woman witnesses drug-related murders and is forced to do the gang's bidding. Every day drags her deeper and corruption is pervasive ! . What alternative is there to death or prison? Who would you become to save your family?. Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary. Don't Mess with Family.

    Fascinating and worrying drama about a young USA woman in a fine big-screen acting from Gina Rodriguez who finds herself unavoidably thrust into a drug cartel's blood feud as an unwitting pawn and her inescapable predicament leads to dire life or death consequences , in which surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength. Based on the Spanish-language movie ¨Miss Bala¨ (2009) by Gerardo Naranjo with Stephanie Sigman , Juan Carlos Galván , Arturo Guerrero , Noé Hernández , Irene Azuela and James Russo . Of course this wouldn't work so well if the acting wasn't first class, and it is indeed, Gina Rodriguez what a fantastic job, really makes us care for the character as the valiant you Gloria who finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. However , there're some incredible situations in Rambo style as the starring takes on a heavily-armed drug gang.

    The motion picture was professionally directed by Catherine Hardwicke , though with no originality because copies the premises of the previous film. Hardwicke's first film as a director was the Sundance winner Thirteen which explored the transition into teenage years with an authenticity that still captures young audiences (1.3 billion Tik Tok engagements.) . Hardwicke often empowers female leads (Miss Bala, Red Riding Hood, Plush, Thirteen) . Hardwicke directed Lords of dogtown before she became best known as the director of Twilight, which launched the blockbuster franchise and has since earned over three billion dollars. Recently her indie film Prisoner's adughter premiered at Tiff 2022 and Dreams in the witchhouse dropped on Netflix October 2022 as part of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Rating : 6/10.

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    Related interests

    Wendell Pierce and Dominic West in The Wire (2002)
    Drug Crime
    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The gang featured in the film is called "Estrellas" and their logo is a lower-case "e" accompanied by a star. "Estrella" is the Spanish word for "star."
    • Goofs
      The DEA sniper at the gang ambush had an M-16, not a sniper rifle. The M-16 is a close quarters assault weapon.
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Lino: I Used You Just Like You Used Me

      Gloria: [aiming an assault rifle at him] Both Eyes Open

    • Connections
      Featured in L.A.'s Finest: Pilot (2019)
    • Soundtracks
      Exhibit Diaz
      Written by Ryuichi Sakamoto

      Performed by Ibeyi

      Courtesy of XL Recordings

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    FAQ17

    • How long is Miss Bala?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 1, 2019 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Mexico
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Miss Bala: sin piedad
    • Filming locations
      • Monumental Playas de Tijuana, Av. Del Pacífico 4, Tijuana, Baja California Norte, Mexico(The stadium)
    • Production companies
      • Canana Films
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Misher Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $15,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $15,006,824
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $6,864,744
      • Feb 3, 2019
    • Gross worldwide
      • $15,383,580
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 44m(104 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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