NOW IN THEATERS! Never come between a mother and her daughter. They’ll stop at nothing to prevent harm from coming to their children, but what happens when there’s no one to turn to for help? If the grotesquely high amount of missing young people is any indication, Mexico is struggling to provide the adequate resolution that so many of these mothers are seeking. There’s definitely an ethical debate to be had over the number of TV shows and films that profit off representations of violence in Mexico. Director/co-writer Teodora Mihai’s La Civil might not settle that debate, but it’s certainly a doozy of a dramatic thriller.
Arcelia Ramírez plays Cielo, a normal mother turned crusader after the disappearance of her teenage daughter Laura early on. Unfortunately, the organization responsible for her abduction demands a ransom far above what she can afford as a single mother. Cielo reluctantly enlists the help of her deadbeat ex-husband, Gustavo (Álvaro Guerrero). He loves his daughter, but he’s also a man dating a girl approximately his daughter’s age. Our first glimpse of him receiving the news of Laura’s abduction while surrounded by empty cans of Tecate doesn’t inspire confidence. Cielo and Gustavo nonetheless pay what they can, only to find that the kidnappers have no intention of actually returning Laura.
The sense of hopelessness is palpable throughout Mihai’s movie. The vast majority of abductions go unsolved because of widespread institutional corruption. This leaves going to the police an option fraught with danger. Cielo does manage to gain the trust of a brutal Army commander, but this brings about a new set of complications. How can one woman stand against such an inflexible system?

“…pay what they can, only to find that the kidnappers have no intention of actually returning Laura.”
Cielo is front and center in La Civil. This necessitates a powerful performance from Ramírez, and she more than delivers. The growth of her character from a desperate and naïve mother to a take-no-prisoners harbinger of justice is a sight to behold. We feel the weight of her circumstances, all as a result of the performance. Indeed, without Ramírez, there’s a strong chance that this behemoth of a picture might have been too much to bear at 140 minutes.
Mihai, and co-writer Habacuc Antonio De Rosario, couple Ramírez’ star-making turn with a narrative that remains impossible to predict. We retain a sense of hope throughout and are never quite sure where the plot is going to take us. The transitions from tension-filled scenes at a local morgue to criminal hideouts straight out of a horror film manage to impress. “Don’t trust anyone” is a worn-out trope in cinema, but it holds true here. Everyone is complicit.
The movie is premised upon a true story, which makes viewers feel the gravity of the situation even more intently. We’ve seen so many stories in and around Mexico’s drug violence centered around hyper-masculine figures. It’s refreshing that we’re finally able to see a narrative based around a mother, representative of an important perspective often ignored in flicks of this nature. La Civil is a dense and meticulously crafted drama sure to please those looking for a fresh approach to violence in Mexico.