Cartel Land is an absoute mess of a film that raises the question: what happens when access doesn’t equal insight?

| Jan 23, 2023

There is the occasional tinge of bias in the way Heineman presents these people and their stories, but there isn't a moment where he flinches, even in the face of a cartel firefight.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 10, 2021

Cartel Land vividly presents the gulf between fantasies of vigilante heroism, and how they often harrowingly -- if not bitterly -- play out in reality.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 6, 2019

It's really hard to take your eyes off Cartel Land-even when you might need to (re: graphic images of cartel victims).

| Mar 2, 2019

Raw, brutal, and ambitious, Cartel Land may be a real life story, but its limited scope in truly exploring the ideas it raised left me wanting more.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 9, 2019

The run-and-gun style and Heineman's jaw-dropping access will keep your heart pounding through this examination of the current War on Drugs.

| Nov 28, 2018

An almost unbelievably intimate piece of cinematic journalism

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 16, 2018

An examination of whether vigilante justice - no matter how well-intentioned at the start - is doomed, ultimately, to become just another example of would-be good guys falling prey to the lure of egotism and/or big money.

| Aug 16, 2017

Cartel Land provides a solid cinematic structure that allows two parallel storylines to intersect effortlessly.

| Jun 20, 2017

A little bit of critical distance could surely only have helped make this is a real discussion of the issues, not just a vivid depiction of them.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 10, 2016

Cartel Land shows us things we haven't seen before, and its last act contains startling revelations. But the film is also pretty tacky in its numbingly high-octane presentation

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 25, 2016

Cartel Land is surprisingly effective in its on-the-ground approach.

| Original Score: B+ | Feb 23, 2016

A real-life action thriller, a terrifying, companion piece to Sicario. Do we want the wild West in the 21st century? Because that's what we've got.

| Feb 16, 2016

More than a great documentary, this is a great piece of journalistic work. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jan 21, 2016

The longer it goes, the easier it becomes to be turned off by the frequent graphic violence that so frequently punctuates the narrative.

| Original Score: C+ | Jan 20, 2016

Like most documentaries about the Mexican drug wars, this has nothing to say about the social and political context. It is meant for visceral entertainment and as such reflects the aesthetic of Kathryn Bigelow--the executive producer.

| Jan 11, 2016

Frightening, fly-on-the-wall documentary following the efforts of vigilantes to wrest control of border towns back from ruthless drug cartels operating along the Rio Grande.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 30, 2015

This documentary about the problems and limitations of vigilante justice includes some impressive hand-held camera work, indicating bravery during firefights south of the border, and stamina while climbing very rugged terrain along the border.

| Original Score: B | Nov 29, 2015

One of the most astonishing films on the ruthless drug cartels.

| Original Score: A | Nov 27, 2015

Cartel Land is not a fun watch but it is a compelling one. It has all the larger than life characters, gang violence and government corruption of a fictional crime drama made horribly tragic by its reality.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 2, 2015