Heli

From the opening sequence showing two bodies being driven across country and hung from an overpass, we know this isn’t going to be comfortable viewing. And the film that follows doesn’t disappoint in that regard.

Heli is a young husband and father, struggling to earn a living at the local auto plant. He lives with his wife, son, sister and father in a tiny house in a small town in the Mexican desert. Life isn’t a lot of fun, but by working hard the family get by.

Heli’s sister Estela becomes infatuated with Beto, an army cadet who impresses her with his macho exploits – in one scene he uses Estela as a barbell and does bicep curls. To offset this golden image, we’re shown Beto’s reality at bootcamp where he’s made to roll through his own vomit during a training exercise.

After asking Estela to marry him, Beto decides to finance their elopement by stealing two large packages of cocaine. When he asks Estela to hide the packages in her water tank over night, he sets in motion a chain of carnage that will leave no life untouched.

Brutal, miserable and probably far more honest than we want to believe, Heli is not a feel-good film. In the film’s most shocking scene, Beto is subject to inhuman torture as two young children in the room play video games. Their faces are impassive as they glance between the real and fantasy violence.

The ending does not offer much in the way of hope. But as a document of the destructive nature of the drug trade this is an unflinching and brave narrative.

7/10

.