Film Forum

The monster in question is feared and loathed in Mexico, as it is everywhere: the medical insurance industry. Sonia’s critically ill husband requires an expensive medication their insurance company refuses to approve. So we can’t help but admire her for taking matters into her own hands. What begins as a frustrating call to a bureaucratic phone tree, escalates into a grimly comic confrontation with her husband’s doctor as he luxuriates in a steam bath, and finally a violent hostage-taking standoff. Sonia does battle with all 1000 heads of the insurance industry: its brilliant ability to hide behind obfuscation and pettiness, its callous disregard for human suffering and, ultimately, its corruption. No matter your position on the Affordable Care Act -- this film is for you.

MEXICO • 2015 • 75 MINS. • IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • MUSIC BOX FILMS

Reviews

“Masterfully executed. Alternatively a thriller and a grueling procedural, showing the pettiness and avarice of insurance companies, either oblivious or abusive of human suffering. Raluy’s stellar performance as Sonia, a woman who desperation prepares her for anything, and whose missteps create an irreversible domino effect, drives this quietly nerve-wracking drama.”
– Ela Bittencourt, Brooklyn Magazine

“Nervily compact. (A) considerable achievement. An agitated on-the-move hostage thriller… with a streak of outlandish melodrama. Both urgent and even-handed… (with) remarkable widescreen lensing.”
– Guy Lodge, Variety

“A lean and efficient mix of thriller, drama and socio-political commentary. Some wry humor seeps in. The sinewy Raluy, a TV actress, displays the right mix of craziness and steamrolling strength to appear dangerous…Plá and cinematographer Odei Zabeleta use *their widescreen canvas beautifully.”
– Boyd van Hoeji, The Hollywood Reporter

“A gripping Mexican film. Rodrigo Plá directs this nifty little thriller with shrewd control. A short, sharp film.”
– Gary Kramer, Metro