Heli

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Heli

2013

1h 45m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

58%

Tomatometer

45 Reviews

62%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

A factory worker struggles to protect his family from a corrupt police force when his young sister inadvertently lands them in the middle of a drug war.

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Critics Consensus

There's no denying the seriousness of Heli's story or the raw power of its more uncomfortable moments, but they're used in service of a grimly alienating film that many viewers may ultimately find unrewarding.

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Joe McGovern

Entertainment Weekly

The film's nihilism serves as a metaphor for the merciless death pit of Mexico's drug war, but not much else.

Dec 3, 2014

Full Review

David Lewis

San Francisco Chronicle

Director Amat Escalante and his gifted cinematographer Lorenzo Hagerman have crafted a powerful film that feels and looks a lot like Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winning Traffic.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 7, 2014

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Randy Cordova

Arizona Republic

Although it obviously is made with some skill, it also is unrelentingly dire.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jul 10, 2014

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Its crude approach to drug violence strikes me as inane, gratuitous, uselessly sensationalist. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/10

Jun 12, 2024

Full Review

C.J. Prince

Way Too Indie

It's too hopeless and overdone to generate anything more than a shrug.

Rated: 5.3/10

Jun 19, 2019

Full Review

Alexa Dalby

Dog and Wolf

All the parts are played by non-professional actors, except for Ramon Alvarez, and Escalante gets powerful performances from them.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 6, 2019

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Audience Member

Heli is barely behind the no-crossing line of the kind of morbid porn-misery stories taht go far from the acceptable, but is exactly that (the raw power of its images and asronashing direction) what makes it so unforgettable and hard to ignore.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

Piece of crap . Extremely graphic. Animal cruelty . Pure example why Mexican cinema is still not worth watching.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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Audience Member

rather brutal and a difficult watch at times but still essential viewing

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

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Audience Member

Shows how hopeless life in Mexico currently is for the majority of Mexicans.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

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Audience Member

"Heli" is an uncompromising, nihilistic film, angry behind dead eyes and graphically shocking.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

Retrato de las historias de "aquellos que vemos en el periódico". Lenta y profunda historia cimentada en un sombrío transcurrir, bien efectuado al contar uno de los tantos por qués de la suciedad en la que muchas famlias viven frente al factor narco que asecha a los más vulnerables (aquellos olvidados por la Ley y coaccionados por ella).

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

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Amat Escalante

Director

Armando Espitia

Heli

Andrea Vergara

Estela

Linda González

Sabrina

Juan Eduardo Palacios

Beto

Kenny Johnston

Asesor Extranjero

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Synopsis

A factory worker struggles to protect his family from a corrupt police force when his young sister inadvertently lands them in the middle of a drug war.

Director: Amat Escalante
Producer: Jaime Romandia, Amat Escalante, Carlos Reygadas, Titus Kreyenberg
Screenwriter: Amat Escalante, Gabriel Reyes
Production Co: unafilm, Le Pacte, Lemming Film, IKE Asistencia, Tres Tunas, Ticoman, Mantarraya Producciones, Foprocine, Conaculta
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 1, 2016
Runtime: 1h 45m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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