critics consensus

Raw, brutal, and bitter, Cartel Land offers a ground-level look at vigilante efforts to thwart organized crime at the Mexican-American border. Read critic reviews

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Movie Info

Filmmaker Matthew Heineman examines the the state of the ongoing drug problem along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Rating:

R (Drug Content|Brief Sexual Material|Language|Violent Disturbing Images)
Genre:

documentary
Original Language:

English
Director:

Matthew Heineman
Producer:

Tom Yellin, Matthew Heineman
Release Date (Theaters):

Jul 3, 2015 limited
Release Date (Streaming):

Mar 29, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA):

$704.4K
Runtime:

1h 38m
Production Co:

Our Time Projects, Documentary Group

Cast & Crew

Enrique Peña Nieto

Matthew Heineman
Director

David McKillop
Executive Producer

Kathryn Bigelow
Executive Producer

Robert DeBitetto
Executive Producer

Molly Thompson
Executive Producer

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News & Interviews for Cartel Land

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2016 Emmy Award Nominations

Oscars 2016: Full Winners List

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Critic Reviews for Cartel Land

All Critics (100) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (90) | Rotten (10)

Heineman goes through the gates of Hell and comes back empty-handed.

September 10, 2015 | Rating: 2/5

David Ehrlich
Little White Lies
Horribly real, an urgent and alarming account of a crisis so hellishly labyrinthine it's hard to see how anyone can escape its widening web of violence, extortion and corruption.

September 7, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
Matthew Heineman's documentary about the Mexican drug wars plays like a real-life version of some grim Sam Peckinpah Western in which violence and corruption have become endemic.

September 4, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Geoffrey Macnab
Independent (UK)
The road to hell, as paved with best intentions, has never looked better.

September 4, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Tara Brady
Irish Times
Thoroughly researched, occasionally engrossing, but ultimately frustrating.

September 3, 2015 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
There's no doubting Heineman and his crew's audacity as they venture close to the line of fire, but the commitment to observing dispassionately at all times starts to feel a bit like a cop-out.

September 3, 2015 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

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

April 6, 2019 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

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

March 2, 2019 | Full Review…

Amie Simon
Three Imaginary Girls
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.

January 9, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…

Joel Mayward
Cinemayward
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.

November 28, 2018 | Full Review…

Thrillist Entertainment Staff
Thrillist
An almost unbelievably intimate piece of cinematic journalism

November 16, 2018 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Daniel Barnes
Dare Daniel
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.

August 16, 2017 | Full Review…

Dan Webster
Spokesman-Review (Washington)

View All Critic Reviews (100)

Audience Reviews for Cartel Land

Apr 04, 2016

Reality has Never Been so Riveting A visceral, kinetic, breath-taking, and highly effective documentary, Cartel Land is a film that stands above the rest in its story-telling and authenticity. The embedded filmmaker follows two organic resistance groups to the incredibly violent drug cartels, a group of disgruntled and frustrated militia members on the US side, an an armed civilian uprising on the Mexican side. What results is a film that absolutely mesmerizes the viewer with heart-pounding action, first-person testimony, and undeniable carnage. You can read about Cartel violence or be transported to it with this documentary, a film that is apolitical and only seeks to inform. Excellent 4.5/5 Stars

Jeffrey M Super Reviewer
Mar 18, 2016

Could not stop watching this....this is just a fascinating film. Glad that it got nominated for best documentary.

Stephen S Super Reviewer
Nov 30, 2015

http://cinephilecrocodile.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/cartel-land-dir-matthew-heineman-2015.html

Anthony L Super Reviewer
Nov 04, 2015

What is most admirable in this excellent film is how Heineman risks his life in the middle of the crossfire with his camera so that he can show us this tragic, appalling and complex situation to which there seems to be no solution and where one step forward means two steps back.

Carlos M Super Reviewer