74
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyIf it weren’t for "The Act Of Killing," Narco Cultura would be the year’s queasiest documentary. The film — which counterposes Quintero’s day-to-day life with that of Richi Soto, a crime-scene investigator in Juarez — is both an unflinching record of Mexico’s drug war and an investigation of how violence becomes unreal and glamorized.
- 90Village VoiceErnest HardyVillage VoiceErnest HardySchwarz's juxtaposition of the human cost of the drug war alongside the glamorization of its henchmen and their brutality is sobering, even depressing.
- 90VarietyGeoff BerkshireVarietyGeoff BerkshireNarco Cultura is as overwhelming as it is absorbing.
- 88Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMiami HeraldRene RodriguezNarco Cultura isn’t a documentary about runaway crime: Its actual subject is far stranger.
- 81Film.comWilliam GossFilm.comWilliam GossA potent encapsulation of how fame and finance beget fear and grief.
- 80Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearPing-ponging between grisly South of the Border carnage and Angeleno musician Edgar Quintero’s growing success as one of the subgenre’s stars, you start to see how this parasitic relationship works.
- 80The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasNarco Cultura makes it abundantly, forcefully clear that the illicit business of narcocorridos thrives on the illicit business of cartels—and business is still booming.
- 75Slant MagazineTomas HachardSlant MagazineTomas HachardDirector Shaul Schwarz, sans judgment, presents us with two men who epitomize how accepted and engrained narco culture has become in Mexico.
- 40New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierThe dissection and discussion, though well-intentioned, winds up lifeless.
- 40The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenNarco Cultura feels like two short films sandwiched together to make a feature. One is a shallow pop-music documentary focusing on Mr. Quintero. The other is an equally superficial portrait of the embattled Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso.