Rodrigo Pla's debut is certainly stylistically sound, beautifully depicting the disparity between the eponymous zone and the surrounding area through security monitoring-style footage and beautiful shots of the well-manicured oasis-suburb. In fact, the set up--both the fist scene and the very concept--is perfect. A storm brings a billboard crashing down on a concrete wall, impairing the community's advanced surveillance systems, cutting the power, and allowing access to three opportunistic intruders.
And so the stage is set for a either a scathing critique of Mexico's apartheid-like class separation, an exciting thriller about a community's manhunt, or a psychodrama delving into witch-hunt dynamics. Unfortunately, the film never makes up its mind. It schizophrenically skips between these modes, never satisfying or examining them nearly enough. A large ensemble cast does well to intrigue us, but not enough to engage in any meaningful character study. The lead detective, for instance, is so ill-defined that he must dwell in the realm of stereotype, somewhat the renegade fighting against institutional corruption, somewhat the emotional, maverick loose cannon with a tendency toward violence. But we never find out much more about the guy.
And so when the film neatly tidies itself up at the 90 minute mark with a Spike Lee-like incitation, an act of violence that is meant to shock and draw sympathy, it hardly delivers the punch it should. Because like the community La Zona follows, there is a decided lack of humanity in the storytelling.
And so the stage is set for a either a scathing critique of Mexico's apartheid-like class separation, an exciting thriller about a community's manhunt, or a psychodrama delving into witch-hunt dynamics. Unfortunately, the film never makes up its mind. It schizophrenically skips between these modes, never satisfying or examining them nearly enough. A large ensemble cast does well to intrigue us, but not enough to engage in any meaningful character study. The lead detective, for instance, is so ill-defined that he must dwell in the realm of stereotype, somewhat the renegade fighting against institutional corruption, somewhat the emotional, maverick loose cannon with a tendency toward violence. But we never find out much more about the guy.
And so when the film neatly tidies itself up at the 90 minute mark with a Spike Lee-like incitation, an act of violence that is meant to shock and draw sympathy, it hardly delivers the punch it should. Because like the community La Zona follows, there is a decided lack of humanity in the storytelling.