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Sin nombre Movie Review

Sin nombre is a 2009 Mexican crime thriller film directed by Cary Fukunaga. It’s the director’s debut feature and a solid, though flawed effort.

A teenager reunites with her father, an opportunity for her to potentially realize her dream of a life in the U.S. Moving to Mexico is the first step in a fateful journey of unexpected events. This movie is a cross between a gangster story and an immigration tale. As somebody who isn’t a fan of the former, I found those scenes lackluster and tedious.

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Thankfully, the adventurous elements fared much better. The movie is worth seeing just for its landscapes alone. This is a gorgeous movie that features stunning vistas and a great utilization of its Southern setting. The movie contrasted the harsh circumstances of its protagonists with the natural beauty surrounding them so deftly.

Fukunaga showed a lot of promise from the get-go. Not only is his directing confident, but the movie is also very well edited, paced and scored. The cinematography is particularly strong. There is also some realistic dialogue to be found throughout and a couple of moving moments.

But Sin nombre failed to properly develop any of its characters. The acting is fine, but these actors were not given meaty enough roles, which led to pedestrian characterizations. There is also the problem with the emotional engagement that stems from the lack of strong character development. If you do not care for these people, you cannot really feel anything when terrible stuff happens to them, and it does happen quite often in this brutally unforgiving movie.

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