mikechinea

Once in a while a true independent movie comes out and touches me. Chloé Zhao did a great job blending real life with genuine story telling. Not at all interested in pleasing Hollywood and its demands for plot points she let the story unapologetically unfold before your eyes. So refreshing watching a cliché-less movie.

Calling this movie depressing would be uplifting it. Through some mix up at Netflix we ended up receiving this sad and miserable movie that was nothing at all what we ordered and expected. I love post-apocalyptic movies so I gave it a shot. Just about when I thought it could not get any worse, it did. The AFTERMATH we were waiting for is no longer available through Netflix which is too bad since I was looking forward to it. I'm sure the script was probably much better than the execution. Interesting production values was just about all it had for me, if that much. This might be one of those movie that the sequel turns out to be way better than the original. That's my opinion and your mileage may vary.

Whether under LA GUAPA or THOU SHALLT NOT KILL titles this true Indie gives you complex characters and a payoff ending. Made for probably less than the line item for donuts in SALT this movie has just about everything, if it lacked anything is was heavy and over used stereotypes. What it lacked in budget was offset with a big dose of heart. Maybe Writer-Director Kenneth Castillo created a new sub-genre Family Drama Crime Thriller. Director Kenneth Castillo took a page from film noir and made it his own. One huge difference that separates this from the pack is his approach to the leading character La Guapa (Grace Serrano). Castillo was not afraid to let La Guapa have all the complexities of a real woman and a mother and not the usual bastardized role of the 'Macho Woman' where the hit-man would have been a woman in name only. One questioned clearly answered is what a mother will do for her child. Grace Serrano's performance as La Guapa is stellar, Anthony L. Fernandez as Cesar Figueroa brings it as the gangster with certain vulnerabilities that makes you almost forget he's an malevolent criminal bent on having his way at any cost. Performances of Al Coronel as Det. Pensiero and of his partner Det. Vasquez (Ivan Basso) are so true that you could swear they are right out the LAPD's Rampart Division. Maia Kahlo as Celia handled some heavy scenes as a seasoned professional, this young lady shows a lot of potential if she' continues with her acting career. Cindy Vela brings a whole new dynamics and nails the supporting role of Gabby Pensiero. Other good performances by Giovanni Bejarano as Chato and Rodney Thurman as Benny round out a very good cast. Loved it warts and all so I gave it 10 Stars for Excellence not Perfection.