Starchild Gonzales What is most admirable in this excellent film is how Heineman risks his life in the middle of the crossfire with his camera so that he can show us this tragic, appalling and complex situation to which there seems to be no solution and where one step forward means two steps back. Watch it. Now.

m-oosterheerd Editors note: Almost always people comment on films on this website in quite a good way. So I never felt the urge to write/contribute something....The film:First of all I never wrote a review on this website before. And to be honest i don't think this will count as a review. Actually it was never my intention to write a review but more so to ask a critical question... Is this still a documentary? The quality of the images, the story and of the film in general are mind blowing! It gets you thinking and shows you the good, the bad and the ugly (pun intended).The story itself and the people involved are real, but in my opinion this is a reenactment! Staged, beautifully done but staged... The subject and the way they showed it is compelling, brutal at times, and it will get you thinking but I can't lose the feeling i watched a movie/film and not a documentary... Which is either brilliant or bad... Help me out, your thoughts pls.

westsideschl Documentary filmed on location on the US side of the border with Mexico showing the actions/views of self policing locals guarding against traffic across the border and in a separate filming the actions/views of citizens in the Mexican state of Michoacán self policing (calling themselves the Autodefensas) against cartels (mostly Templar Cartel). Very graphic depicting of violence. Also, clear presentation of the corruption/collusion within/between the government, police, Cartels and locals who benefit from all the illegal activity. The physician who organized the citizen action against the abuses of the cartels/police/government was jailed as a threat to their businesses. The cartel-government connection in Mexico parallels that of corporate-government cooperation in the US with gunmen as their emissaries and lobbyists as ours. Ironically both parallel institutions use cheap comfort/convenience opiates to keep their populations sedated/submissive/powerless.

Jackson Booth-Millard The definition of "cartel" is: an international syndicate, combine, or trust formed especially to regulate prices and output in some field of business; I had heard the word in crime films and stuff, so it was going to be interesting to see how this Mexican / Spanish documentary film would look at them in real life. Basically this film looks at two two modern-day vigilante groups, the Arizona Border Recon, led by American veteran Tim "Nailer" Foley, and the Autodefensas, led by Michoacán-based physician Dr. "El Doctor" José Mireles. The film also looks at the two groups shared enemy, the murderous Mexican drug cartels, including the violent Knights Templar, who have wreaked havoc on the region for years. The film takes place in Michoacán, southwest Mexico, and Arizona, including Altar Valley, a desert corridor also known as Cocaine Alley, the three focused groups are both sides of the law and bring their own brand of justice to a society where institutions have failed. Director Matthew Heineman got up and close to the action, going to great lengths to capture the chilling and visceral actions of the two sides of this serious issue, including firefights, gunpoint interrogations and torture sessions, I agree with the critics that this film lacks objectivity and some kind of conclusion, but you cannot the deny power and it showing the blurry line between good and evil, an interesting enough documentary. It was nominated the Oscar and BAFTA for Best Documentary. Worth watching!