A great argument in favor of nonfiction storytelling is that often times the truth is even stranger than anything conjured in fiction. Sundance alum Cartel Land, executive produced by Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), is one such documentary as it follows two different sides of the undeniably crooked war on drugs in Mexico.

The film’s first few minutes show images and situations that seem unbelievable; a mass funeral for an entire group of innocent people who were murdered by the elusive cartels is a harsh reality check of the casualties of this endless war. This also serves as a signal to the audience that we are in for an education unlike anything we knew before.

The cartels are introduced as powerful outsiders and are seldom shown onscreen. Instead, the focus of the film will be on groups of people who are taking matters into their own hands: when the government can’t protect the people, who will?

Heineman has miraculously managed to be right alongside numerous firefights, protests, and intimate conversations that immerse the viewer into the tense situation at hand.

 

We get two different answers from both sides of the US-Mexico border. The first is an American vigilante border patrol organization called Arizona Border Recon, who is full of bigotry and misguided law. Their leader Tim Foley, known as “Nailer,” is hardly a representation of good morals, yet is the tamest in this terrifyingly bloodthirsty group of American self-proclaimed soldiers.

On the Mexican side (though over 1,000 miles from the border, deep into its own country of Michoacán) is an anti-cartel volunteer group known as the Autodefensas, led by a charismatic, spirited leader named Jose Manuel Mireles, or “El Doctor.” The Autodefensas start out as a small uprising of citizens who know that they can’t rely on the police to stop the cartels, so they take matters into their own hands. As we watch the organization expand and gain power, inevitably it becomes more difficult to maintain and corruption naturally cracks into all levels.

The reason these stories are so compelling is because of the level of access that director Matthew Heineman has gained. Many documentaries lose attention when the most dramatic moments are happening off-screen. Heineman has miraculously managed to be right alongside numerous firefights, protests, and intimate conversations that immerse the viewer into the tense situation at hand.

The primary characters are shown onscreen without us being told who is trustworthy and who isn’t, and as we see more information, it becomes even clearer how impossible it is to trust anyone involved in this situation.

By the time the film is over, you will have a new understanding of just how deep-seated the corruption in these wars has become. What is more baffling, and another reason why this is essential viewing, is that these stories (like many of global importance) are being ignored by mainstream media in all likelihood because of how unbelievable they are.

Cartel Land is a movie that inspires the viewer to think a little more carefully about what types of leaders are trustworthy, and exposes a horrific truth with humane precision that would otherwise by brushed over by mainstream media.

Cartel Land opens this Friday, July 10th at The ArcLight Hollywood.