Miss Bala
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: October 14, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesManohla DargisJan 19, 2012
A first-rate art-house thriller, Miss Bala tells the strange, seemingly impossible story of a Mexican beauty queen who becomes the accidental pawn of a drug cartel. It's an adventure story that could be called a contemporary picaresque if it weren't so deadly serious. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumJan 18, 2012
Loosely based on real events, this harrowing, superbly made drama by fast-rising filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo (I'm Gonna Explode) is Mexico's 2012 submission for Best Foreign Language Film - rightfully so. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasJan 25, 2012
Miss Bala toes a delicate line between exploitation movie and movie about exploitation, but that's part of what gives the film its charge - this isn't some flaccid docudrama about how the cartels are poisoning the country, it's a lively, white-knuckle thriller where any such proselytizing is reduced to implication. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnJan 16, 2012
In each tense moment, Miss Bala has a lot to say in a few words. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJan 20, 2012
What the film captures so effectively is the cultural reality of Mexico's ubiquitous underclass. Read full review
90
TimeRichard CorlissJan 19, 2012
Miss Bala is a tragedy rendered with the savviest, moviewise virtuosity. A young woman's despair, and a nation's, was never so damned entertaining. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirJan 19, 2012
Terrifically choreographed, violent and amoral, but never wantonly cruel, Miss Bala is a knockout. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJan 29, 2019
In Miss Bala, sexism doesn’t take sides, but is rather a harrowing, pervasive, dehumanizing force that even turns fashion into a weapon. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 19, 2012
No beauty contest has ever been more bizarre than the one in Gerardo Naranjo's shockingly powerful thriller. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJan 17, 2012
There's a wild, "Miami Blues"–like dreaminess to the movie that's addictive. If anything, it shows up exactly what "Little Miss Sunshine" lacked: plenty of ammo. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungOct 10, 2011
Fast and dangerous, Miss Bala is a hair-raising actioner. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeOct 10, 2011
With the blistering firecracker that is Miss Bala, next-gen Mexican director and AFI grad Gerardo Naranjo delivers on the promise of such well-respected early pics as "Drama/Mex" and "I'm Gonna Explode," revealing them as dry runs for this "Scarface"-scary depiction of south-of-the-border crime run amok. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoJan 26, 2012
Bala, by the way, means "bullet." Laura Zúñiga, the real-life beauty queen on whom the film is loosely based, was called "Miss Narco" in the Mexican press. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeLoren KingJan 26, 2012
Miss Bala signals the rise of a director to watch, as Naranjo offers a grim subject with neither flash nor sentiment. It is a sober film done with style. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJan 26, 2012
There are no good guys in Miss Bala, just bad guys of different stripes. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 13, 2012
Naranjo, a graduate of the American Film Institute, has a gift for staging action that defines character. The film is a harrowing experience. It cuts deep. Read full review
75
MovielineStephanie ZacharekOct 13, 2011
Naranjo keeps the action tense but understated; instead of allowing explosions and shootouts to pile up, he rations them in taut doses. Read full review
70
Village VoiceKarina LongworthJan 17, 2012
The character is intentionally lightly drawn: Laura's suffering is symbolic, a surrogate for the suffering of a society helplessly caught in the crossfire. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 27, 2012
Miss Bala has been praised on the festival circuit for being a gritty look at the Mexican drug trade but too often it seemed like a bargain-bin "Scarface" to me. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithJan 20, 2012
This strange and eerie noir is more a collection of knockout scenes than a fully realized story. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazineVadim RizovJan 20, 2012
Gerardo Naranjo's fourth feature Miss Bala is one long slow burn with no final bang. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJan 19, 2012
While Sigman conveys a credible state of tense disbelief throughout, it's increasingly frustrating to watch Laura so passively accept her dire fate. Read full review
60
EmpireAnna SmithOct 24, 2011
That innocuous title disguises a Mexican thriller with genuine bite, though the hokey ending doesn't quite live up to the edgy plotting and Sigman's classy turn as a tough heroine in an impossible situation. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckJan 31, 2019
Rodriguez and her fans deserve better than Miss Bala, a disappointingly bland and formulaic Hollywood remake of a much grittier and bleaker Mexican thriller. Read full review
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