Cartel Land
Orchard, The | Release Date: July 3, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonJul 2, 2015
Cartel Land is interested in how idealism becomes corrupt. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJul 10, 2015
Without passing moral judgments on either group, Cartel Land provides a vivid illustration of the dangers inherent whenever a government fails to meet its citizens' needs to the extent that they take matters into their own hands. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnJul 6, 2015
This is an idea familiar to anyone who has waded through Bigelow's universe of conspiratorial agendas in which no good deed goes unpunished, and might not be a good deed at all. Cartel Land plants that dilemma in our backyard, and ends with the tangible perception that it won't go away anytime soon. Read full review
91
The PlaylistKatie WalshJun 4, 2015
Heineman, in placing himself in such danger, has managed to create a remarkable and distinctive film that takes on a difficult issue that cannot be so conveniently remedied or ignored. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJul 9, 2015
If the key to price in real estate is "location, location, location," the key to success in vérité-style documentaries is "access, access, access." Which is what Cartel Land has in compelling amounts. Read full review
90
The DissolveScott TobiasJul 1, 2015
Though Cartel Land isn’t interested in making fact-filled statements about the drug war, Heineman’s ingenious conceit gets at the difficulty ordinary people have in doing something about it. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDuane ByrgeJun 4, 2015
Filmmaker Heineman vaults us into a true heart of darkness. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 10, 2015
Given what this film is about and the dangers hindering its fullest accounting, a dramatic rendition, rather than a documentary, might have been more emotionally satisfying. Still, there’s nothing like seeing some of this stuff up close and for real. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonSep 1, 2015
Cameraman and director Michael Heineman has created a riveting story of how, with awful inevitability, power always corrupts. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicSuzanne Condie LambertJul 9, 2015
Some documentaries are about answers. Others are about questions. Cartel Land is about the hazy territory in between. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 9, 2015
Even when the masks are dropped, though, it’s all but impossible to tell the good guys from the bad. Both sides are corrupt, both sides do terrible harm. Although the film has its shortcomings and simplifications, it’s a bleakly persuasive view of a decades-long combat that respects no boundaries, and seems to hold no prospect of surcease. Read full review
80
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyJun 4, 2015
Matthew Heineman does break the mold in Cartel Land and gets inside citizens movements – better known as vigilantes – which overturn the cartels’ monopoly on violence, for a while. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJul 8, 2015
If only Cartel Land were as rigorous in its thinking as it is in its filmmaking methods, the film might strike an even deeper blow than it presently does. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJul 10, 2015
Cartel Land offers a chilling glimpse into a world of violence and vigilantism. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJul 9, 2015
Cartel Land reveals a culture that spans the border, full of death and dismaying behavior on both sides, but thriving all the same. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJul 9, 2015
Behind the cool, nonjudgmental gaze of Cartel Land is a despair that never comes to terms with itself. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisJul 9, 2015
When the action focuses on the battle lines in Mexico, the results are nothing short of spectacular. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireJul 3, 2015
It must be noted that Cartel Land weaves together two stories, and the Mexican one is far more compelling and revealing than the American. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJul 3, 2015
Whatever one’s moral qualms regarding the Autodefensas—and Heineman makes a point of showing that Mireles, who’s married, has a penchant for using his celebrity to seduce much younger women—there’s no denying the engrossing nature of the footage shown here, or that the people involved are fighting for their own lives. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 13, 2015
The even-tempered, exceedingly rational “El Doctor” seems more laudable than Eastwood and Bronson combined, especially in light of the Mexican government’s notorious ineptitude and corruption. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirJul 9, 2015
If the ambiguity of these stories may frustrate some viewers – we long to be clearly told which of these people are good, if any, and which bad – that is the ambiguity of the world, the ambiguity addressed by Heineman’s Michoacán friend with the bandana and the AK-47. Read full review
70
VarietyBen KenigsbergJun 4, 2015
There are no solutions posed; Cartel Land vividly conveys the sense that this cycle of violence can’t be stopped as long as anyone who tries to take charge (including, the film suggests, government forces in Mexico) is susceptible to corruption. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithJun 30, 2015
Looking at the Mexican drug wars from both sides of the border, Cartel Land is punchy and vital but not particularly informative. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChristopher GrayJun 28, 2015
A stunning work of war reportage nestled within a creaky study of ideological purity. Read full review
60
The GuardianLeslie FelperinOct 25, 2015
There’s no doubting Heineman and his crew’s audacity as they venture close to the line of fire, but the commitment to observing dispassionately at all times starts to feel a bit like a cop-out. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 3, 2015
There’s politics involved, along with personal stories, extraordinary tense standoffs and down-and-dirty drug business. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisJul 2, 2015
Mr. Heineman has said that he wanted Cartel Land to feel like a narrative film as much as possible, and to an extent it does. What’s missing is a directorial point of view, including about vigilante groups, the so-called war on drugs, and Mexican and American policies and politics. Read full review
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