Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Herod's Law

Play trailer Herod's Law R 2000 2h 0m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
68% Tomatometer 25 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In the 1940s, a small Mexican town has lost three mayors within a short span of time because the citizens have assassinated them. A naive janitor (Damián Alcázar) is recruited to become the new mayor, and he believes he will modernize the little town and usher in a reign of peace. But the system corrupts him very quickly, as it is predicated on bribery. Soon, the new mayor takes to abusing his power while associating with an unscrupulous assortment of opportunists, hypocrites and criminals.
Watch on Netflix Stream Now

Where to Watch

Herod's Law

Herod's Law

What to Know

Critics Consensus

La Ley de Herodes is a biting - if heavy-handed - political satire about greed and corruption in Mexico, featuring a brilliant performance from Damián Alcázar.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More (25)
Jeff Strickler Minneapolis Star Tribune Alczar, who won the Mexican Oscar for his performance, brings a lot of energy to the role, but it's not enough to counterbalance the film's heavy-handed predictability. Rated: 2/4 Sep 18, 2003 Full Review Carla Meyer San Francisco Chronicle Alcazar makes a deft transition from idiot to maniac, serving as an anchor for the broad performances around him. Rated: 2/4 Sep 12, 2003 Full Review Ted Fry Seattle Times Accomplished and delightfully subversive. Rated: 3/4 Sep 12, 2003 Full Review Greg Muskewitz eFilmCritic.com Rated: 3/5 May 8, 2004 Full Review Duane Dudek Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Often heavy-handed and obvious. Rated: 2.5/4 Apr 15, 2004 Full Review James Verniere Boston Herald Rated: 3/4 Feb 2, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More (86)
Audience Member What can I say . I enjoyed watching this Netflix clip with my family, you should watch it too. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Es una excelente película mexicana; la trama es muy buena, la sátira política está bien hecha y actuación de Damián Alcázar es excelente; es muy recomendable. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie only can be trully understanded by mexicans. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Whereas the film has a powerful and important message to relay, there is so much superfluous story that the message becomes diminished in the silliness. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Herod's Law translates into "La Ley de Herodes" which is a proverb people say frequently in politics, meaning that you're forced to do something you don't want to, but you have to do it anyways for your own good. I came in expecting something simple and boring, but I was in for a fun mexican movie about cynicism and politics. This movie presents mexicans as lazy people and having lived here for most of my life I've become a bit lazy too so I'm just going to copy/paste the imdb synopsis: Mexico, 1949. The fable of a janitor turned Mayor on a little town lost in the Mexican desert, who gradually realizes how far his new acquainted power and corruption can get him. Similar to director Luis Estrada's previous work, "El Infierno", expect to see a satiric view on mexican politics, its pretty hilarious. It's not only what I now recognize as one of the greatest, but also an important film in Mexico for how it helped Mexican people vote for the other political party (PAN) instead of PRI, members of which had all been presidents since 1929. Here's some other information about it I got off imdb: The movie release was forbidden for several years. Since filming started, the Mexican government wasn't very happy about it; mainly because it showed a bad image of that administration. Filmmakers fought back. This reached the press so the movie had to be released to avoid rumors about political censorship and released it just before the 2000 presidential elections. I wish I had it seen it earlier, I now admire it as one of the best mexican movies ever made. I think its on par with movies like "Casino", not only for its great dark comedy and cinematography, but for its story about people living for themselves and ending up losing it all. It might be hard to find, but I couldn't recommend this and Luis Estrada's more recent work "El Infierno" any more. The acting and cinematography are also amazing. I'd recommend it to anyone who liked "Goodfellas", "Y Tu Mama Tambien", "Capitalism: A Love Story", "The Big Lebowski", "The Hangover", "Office Space", and "Bad Lieutenant". Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Las actuaciones y la dirección (sin contar el reto que costo)son de mi agardo. Luis Estrada bien. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Herod's Law

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
The Parole Officer 57% 63% The Parole Officer Watchlist Lucky Numbers 23% 19% Lucky Numbers Watchlist TRAILER for Lucky Numbers Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo 23% 42% Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo Watchlist The Whole Nine Yards 42% 64% The Whole Nine Yards Watchlist Mumford 58% 65% Mumford Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis In the 1940s, a small Mexican town has lost three mayors within a short span of time because the citizens have assassinated them. A naive janitor (Damián Alcázar) is recruited to become the new mayor, and he believes he will modernize the little town and usher in a reign of peace. But the system corrupts him very quickly, as it is predicated on bribery. Soon, the new mayor takes to abusing his power while associating with an unscrupulous assortment of opportunists, hypocrites and criminals.
Director
Luis Estrada
Producer
Luis Estrada
Screenwriter
Luis Estrada, Vincente Leñero, Fernando Javier Léon Rodríguez, Jaime Sampietro
Distributor
Artecinema, Venevision International [us]
Production Co
Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía, Nu Vision, Altavista Films, Bandidos Films
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
Spanish
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 4, 2000, Wide
Runtime
2h 0m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital, Surround
Most Popular at Home Now