La Civil

A very compelling cartel kidnapping drama.

[An] essential, if harrowing thriller...

A movie that grabs you by the heart quickly and doesn’t let up the stress for any significant amount of time.

From the production design to the flat dialogue to the fly-on-the-wall camera work, everything about the film is utterly naturalistic and completely convincing. With Ms. Ramírez setting the tone, the cast is chillingly believable.

The demoralization that afflicts Cielo casts a shadow on the audience, whose capacity for compassion may reach its limit even before the full measure of her suffering has been taken.

This is a brilliantly realistic nightmare that stays believable right up to the end.

It's a realistic but harrowing tale, right out of today's headlines.

[Mihai] narrative mechanics never weigh down the power of the story, which works as a social chronicle of a country ravaged by violence and corruption.

There’s little objectively wrong with this cartel kidnapping drama but there’s also little objectively new. Fine filmmaking that’s rarely any more than just fine.


Sometimes a thriller, and always a harrowing drama, La civil is painful to watch because it perfectly captures the disenchantment...