Cartel Land

R

Released Jul 3, 2015

1 hr. 38 min.

Documentary

List

89%

101 Reviews

Tomatometer

82%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Filmmaker Matthew Heineman examines the the state of the ongoing drug problem along the U.S.-Mexican border.

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Critics Consensus

Raw, brutal, and bitter, Cartel Land offers a ground-level look at vigilante efforts to thwart organized crime at the Mexican-American border.

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Gareth v

For a subject that has had plenty of movies, series & doco's made about in recent years, this is one of the duller efforts.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/18/23

Full Review

steve c

Good to see people aren't taking this lying down. This is what happens when the government doesn't do thing properly, refuse to do anything, and/or corrupt. Vigilantism.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The movie opens with masked men adorned with AK-47s cooking meth within walking distance of the US Border and by the time you hear the first bullet flying past the Camera Person you are so fully engrossed in the film that it is virtually impossible to forget. A stunning piece of work that gets so close to the realities of an industry regulated by virtue of its criminalization that you can almost taste, smell, and feel it. The motifs of independence, armed resistance, and self sufficiency in the face of overwhelming financial and political power reinforces the broader objective of pointing out not only the reality but the futility of the war on drugs. Probably not a popcorn and candy type of movie, but certainly not one you should miss.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An amazing documentary. Cartels continue to fascinate us.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

andres s

These guys are straight up making meth in the middle of the woods. Wtf. Matthew did a terrific job with the cinematography. Capturing not only the intenseness that is the drug world but also the beauty of the different landscapes. It's amazing to see the process of the formation of vigilantes in Mexico with the old mustached guy as the leader. Seeing how they go to small towns and seeing who wants to volunteer to take out the cartels that are destroying their community. Interesting how the Mexican Army tries to intervene when the vigilantes are trying to do good and get rid of the cartel members and even take their guns. Coincidence? No. The Mexican government is in on it because it makes them a shit ton of money. Quite beautiful how the townspeople came out in numbers to support the vigilantes and tell the army to fuck off. That reveal was mind blowing, how the mustached old guy was actually a doctor. Wow, that was amazing how Matthew was able to record the capture of Caballo and El Chenque. I think it's amazing how the townspeople unite. It's a pretty dark truth how the cartel is the same as the federal police is the same as the autodefensas. They're all working together to satisfy each other's needs. It's a pretty dark reality. Really gripping and enthralling documentary. I respect Matthew for literally being right in the middle of everything that was going on. Takes balls and guts.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Andrew A

I was surprised at how interesting this was. And it kind of pulls you in and gets you invested in the revolution. ***Spoiler alert: The ending is very real and depressing. It leaves you with a sense of hopelessness. It seems like nothing can realistically be done to free Mexico from the Cartels' grasp. The corruption is just too deep.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/10/20

Full Review

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Matthew Heineman

Director

Enrique Peña Nieto

Actor

David McKillop

Executive Producer

Kathryn Bigelow

Executive Producer

Robert DeBitetto

Executive Producer

Molly Thompson

Executive Producer

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David Ehrlich

Little White Lies

Heineman goes through the gates of Hell and comes back empty-handed.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 10, 2015

Full Review

Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

Horribly real, an urgent and alarming account of a crisis so hellishly labyrinthine it's hard to see how anyone can escape its widening web of violence, extortion and corruption.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 7, 2015

Full Review

Geoffrey Macnab

Independent (UK)

Matthew Heineman's documentary about the Mexican drug wars plays like a real-life version of some grim Sam Peckinpah Western in which violence and corruption have become endemic.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 4, 2015

Full Review

Vadim Rizov

Filmmaker Magazine

Cartel Land is an absoute mess of a film that raises the question: what happens when access doesn’t equal insight?

Jan 23, 2023

Full Review

Michael J. Casey

Michael J. Cinema

There is the occasional tinge of bias in the way Heineman presents these people and their stories, but there isn't a moment where he flinches, even in the face of a cartel firefight.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

Christine Jun

CineVue

Cartel Land vividly presents the gulf between fantasies of vigilante heroism, and how they often harrowingly -- if not bitterly -- play out in reality.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 6, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Matthew Heineman examines the the state of the ongoing drug problem along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Director: Matthew Heineman
Executive Producer: David McKillop, Kathryn Bigelow, Robert DeBitetto, Molly Thompson
Distributor: The Orchard
Production Co: Our Time Projects, Documentary Group
Rating: R (Drug Content|Brief Sexual Material|Language|Violent Disturbing Images)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 3, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 29, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $704.4K

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