A pleasant surprise.
It rapidly establishes the setting, the deep attachment between a mother and her 5-year-old daughter in a low-income drug trafficking environment in which she appears to be embroiled.
This works wonderfully, as I can testify because I had the kind of daughter adopted at the age of five, who had the similar flamboyant, ironic demeanour. Little Mia Love Disnard is a natural in acting, and we will see more of her. She will brake many male hearts too, when she grows up...
Their interaction with the outside world is likewise truly natural and refreshing.
While the mother has a caring heart for her child, she has learnt to be rather bitchy in order to endure in the outside world, where best friends may become deadliest foes by the blink of an eye. Seeking protection from Santa Muerte, the patron saint of those living on the outside, mother and daughter paint half of their faces symmetrically with a bony skull to become one. Brilliant symbolism. Their common tagline is "Stay dangerous".
Two wannabe-promoted narcotics investigators threaten her with Child Protective Services if she does not agree to fool a drug boss by wearing a wire. However, the surveillance goes wrong, the wire malfunctions, and the trap fails to operate as intended.
From that point forward, the film accelerates progressively and steadily, both in camera cuts and shakes (which I typically despise), razorsharp with a furious rythmic score until the last scenes, up to what I personally consider sustainable. It's all really spontaneous and short. There are no boring moments.
And some unreasonable choices are plausible given everyone's emotional stress levels.
The film is not particularly imaginative, it appears to be a narration of a terrifying life experience without delving too deeply into the characters' backgrounds. However, the primary characters are adequately distinct, the narrative is straightforward, and the outcome is transparent.
A refreshingly spontaneous entertaining film that simply does what it means, with no pretensions.
