Heli is barely behind the no-crossing line of the kind of morbid porn-misery stories taht go far from the acceptable, but is exactly that (the raw power of its images and asronashing direction) what makes it so unforgettable and hard to ignore.

Piece of crap . Extremely graphic. Animal cruelty . Pure example why Mexican cinema is still not worth watching.

rather brutal and a difficult watch at times but still essential viewing

Shows how hopeless life in Mexico currently is for the majority of Mexicans.

"Heli" is an uncompromising, nihilistic film, angry behind dead eyes and graphically shocking.

Retrato de las historias de "aquellos que vemos en el periódico". Lenta y profunda historia cimentada en un sombrío transcurrir, bien efectuado al contar uno de los tantos por qués de la suciedad en la que muchas famlias viven frente al factor narco que asecha a los más vulnerables (aquellos olvidados por la Ley y coaccionados por ella).

A lovely shot film with some gruesome scenes. We follw a young man in Mexico who takes care of his 12 year old sister. She is in a realtionship with an older guy that get's mixed up in some druggy business. Things get tight and things get's ugly. Lovely paced, interesting and slowly grinding. The one song featured is super cool. It let me off my toes after a while and flattens out a bit. That's sad since this is really a great story beneath all the grimmness. The atmosphere reminds me a lot of the Chilean film "To Kill A Man". This film is grittier but just as good. 7 out of 10 girl curls.

Wow just jaw dropping film. I'm never going to double cross a narco now !!!

The performances are hard to come, but director Amat Escalante achieves to portray quite good a sad reality in the country, that affects almost every zone, overcoat zones like Heli's one.

A tough watch but ultimately a good one. The feeling of desperation from all characters is palpable and their fate is clear. A very angry film about Mexican drug trafficking and the effects on normal folk, glad I watched it....

sad....powerful....moving....man i have just seen this movie 4 the 1st time n think that this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch......its got a good cast of actors/actressess throughout this movie.....i think that Reina Torres, Linda González, Juan Eduardo Palacios, Armando Espitia, Andrea Vergara, play good roles/parts throughout this movie....its got a good soundtrack throughout this movie....i think that the director of this drama movie had done a great job of directing this movie because you never know what 2 expect throughout this movie....man this is such a powerful drama movie 2 watch.,...its got a good cast throughout this movie.....man the torture scenes were so horriffic in this movie....i think that this is such a really well written/acted/directed movie 2 watch, it is such a powerful drama movie 2 watch.....i think that this is such a really really really sad movie 2 watch, its got a great cast throughout this movie..... Following its première at the Cannes Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter reviewed, "Heli is undoubtedly made with serious intent, but it is also relentlessly depressing and curiously uninvolving, with limited audience appeal beyond the film-festival bubble." Scott Foundas of Variety predicted that the film was "destined to traumatise buyers and audiences in equal measure" and concluded that the film was "an accomplished but singularly unpleasant immersion in Mexico's vicious cycle of drug-fuelled violence".Brad Brevet of the website Rope of Silicon praised the film's cinematography and wrote, "Heli sends a message commenting on the fear and degradation of future generations in Mexico specifically as a result of corruption and drug trafficking in underdeveloped areas. [Escalante] does this quite effectively, which makes for a rather uncomfortable watch, even if what you're watching is competently crafted."Michael Olezczyk, for Roger Ebert.com, gave a lukewarm review: "...Instead of locking the viewer in a torture chamber the way "Saw" franchise does, the film actually explores the psychic cost of violence in detail and gives some hint of a possible rebirth at the end".Olezczyk praised Escalante as a "highly talented film-maker who happens to be drawn toward portraying malice". Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Robbie Collin was more appreciative of the film and noted that the film "shows that even a bleak existence can make an uplifting story".Escalante declared for the Mexican website "Animal Político" (Political animal) that the film itself isn't anti-Mexican. Additionally, Gabriel Reyes, (who helped Escalante on writing the script), declared that, "It would be socially irresponsible not to speak about the bad things that are occurring in our country." man this is such a very very sad movie 2 watch, its got a great cast throughout this movie.....man this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch it is such a powerful drama movie 2 watch it is a really really sad movie 2 watch, its got a sad ending, but this movie is such a very powerful drama movie 2 watch, the whole cast:::: Armando Espitia as Heli, the titular character Andrea Vergara as Estela, Heli's sister Linda González as Sabrina, Heli's wife Juan Eduardo Palacios as Alberto, Estela's boyfriend Kenny Johnston as the American Commander and military training counselor its got a good soundtrack throughout this movie, man this is such a powerful drama movie 2 watch, its got a great cast throughout this movie.....man this movie is so so so so so sad but this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch, Featuring newcomers Armando Espitia, Andrea Vergara, Linda González, and Juan Eduardo Palacios, the film premiered in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Escalante won the Best Director award at the ceremony. While being appreciative of the film's technical aspects, film critics were divided in their opinion of the film itself. Heli was selected to represent Mexico at the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated. its got a good soundtrack throughout this movie......its got good fight scenes throughout this movie.....man this is such a really really powerful drama movie to watch, its got a good cast throughout this movie....man this is such a really sad movie 2 watch.....

Beautifully shot statement on the difficulties in living in a semi-lawless state with some harsh scenes.

A pesar de tener una buena primicia, Heli propone muchas cosas que al final no cumple y aunque tenga escenas crudas no sirven para rescatar un pobre guión.

An independent Mexican crime-drama. It was chosen to represent the country in the 86th academy awards. The story of a brother and sister. The responsibility of the brother was showcased when his family was torn by outraged men belong to the drug trafficking. Just another side story of the movie 'Trade' between a family, law and brutal world. In a small desert town, Heli, in his 20s lives with his dad and a teen sister Estela. He's married and has a little baby. He and his dad work for the same automobile factory while his sister is at school. An army camp is held for nearby their village. Estela's secret relationship and army's raid on drug dealers, all these lead to get involved in an affair for this little family. The corrupted law is not an option to rely so Heli must stand his own and fight. The world he's after is not for a person like him, he had left no choice other than going for it. It was a good movie in the aspect of exhibiting the contests. The synopsis says, it is a heroic movie. Heli won't just go into the underworld and smack everyone down. The presentation was in realistic approach. A very well told story with limited characters and dialogues. Yes the movie talks less and displays more, but not completely. Leaves many unsolved mysteries, though it makes you sure you understand without showing the other side of the narration. It's better as now than revealing everything because it could have been lots of violence. A couple of scenes were raw and violent. A bit disturbing as well. The problem with this movie was the rest of the world received it well, but the natives did not. The reason is the country was portrayed in the bad shade. Like the one we always see in the Hollywood movies which denoted how dangerous is their neighbor. The flaw and the misuse in the law enforcement, especially people from isolated place had to face their problem by themselves. So Mexico's not the only one to have issues like this, but many other parts of the world do. The filmmaker hailed from there so he did this. Remember this movie is better compared to 'Trade' which was more disturbing. In the end, both these movies were not neglectable, because of the plot it showcase was one of the actual crimes that happens everywhere.

Una de las cosas que hace este filme único, son las interpretaciones hiperrealistas de sus actores. Brillantemente fotografiada, Heli muestra la verdadera cara de Mexico con las consecuencias de actos en apariencia inocentes y la descomposicion social que nace desde los niveles inferiores del narcotrafico. Brutal, deprimente a ratos y desesperanzadora, no en vano tiene la mayoria de las nominaciones (junto a La Jaula de Oro) en los premios de la academia mexicana de cine.

Definitivamente no es una bonita película, si mereció más el ser enviada a representarnos al �scar que la mugre de Derbez, es fuerte en su temática e imágenes pero se queda en el intento de... ¿muestra, denuncia, todo jugo, quien sabe?

Excruciatingly painful movie to watch. I guess it is a good movie because of that. None the less, not something I will recommend. I hope Mexican cinema finds itself not at its poverty but at its rich colors..

Good story idea, marred by inarticulate script and direction.

Måske en kende for underspillet. Meget voldelig

Nice film , not great depth with plot but well played