I hadn't been paying much attention to Miss Bala and after seeing the trailer that just went online, I'm definitely paying attention now.  The film picked up strong reviews out of Cannes and the fine folks over at The Playlist raved about it.  Gerardo Naranjo's movie clashes the world of beauty pagents and Mexican drug cartels and while that may sound like a premise for a comedy, it's actually a harrowing look at modern Mexican society and the violence of the country's drug wars.  The plot centers on "Laura (Stephanie Sigman), the only witness to a night-club massacre by a group of narcos, who realizes her goal of becoming Miss Baja California – although the gang’s hand in the coronation makes it fall short of what she had dreamed it would be."  It looks like an exciting flick and I'm hoping I can find time in my schedule to catch it at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  No release date has been announced, but Fox International will distribute the film stateside.

Synopsis above via TIFF.  Trailer via The Playlist.

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