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Finished Narcos? Here’s 8 Drug War Films You Need to Watch

If you’ve finished Narcos and are already experiencing withdrawal symptoms here’s 8 Drug War films you need to watch!

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Yes, you might have finished Narcos already but there are plenty of great drug war films which more than stack up to the series. If you’ve seen all the eight films below and want more recommendations leave a comment or email me here. If you haven’t seen any of the films below or Narcos, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do! No time like the present.

8. Scarface

Scarface: the old classic. It’s full of recognizable quotes and has a hit performance from Al Pacino. There’s plenty of violence, hard drugs, and strong language.

7. Sicario

Sicario: the modern classic. It takes place on the streets of the once murder capital of the world, Juarez, Mexico. You’ll see a group of FBI agents sent to the border town to try and take down the dominant drug cartel. The last scene is a nail biter.

6. Miss Bala

Miss Bala is a brutal portrayal of the Mexican drug war. The film is loosely based on the true story of 2012’s Miss Sinaloa who was arrested with suspected cartel members. It’s definitely not a happy film.

5. Maria Full of Grace

This Colombian film is the ultimate film about the perils of drug smuggling. In fact the performance from actress Catalina Sandino Moreno is so eerily convincing she was nominated for an Oscar.

4. City of God

One of the best films made ever. City of God tells the story of Rocket and Lil Ze, one becomes a drug lord, the other becomes a photographer trying to make it amidst all the turf wars. The fast paced editing and narrative are exactly what you want following Narcos. And don’t trust this strange 90s-esque trailer.

3. El Infierno

Aha! Unless you’re a drug war film pro you’ve probably never heard of this film. And if you haven’t heard of it you are missing out. It’s the best drug-war comedy in existence. It satirises the narcos, the police, and the government, Luis Estrada (the director) holds everyone accountable. And, as an added bonus, the main character is played by Narcos Drug Lord Gilberto Orejuela.

2. Traffic

Traffic is the best American Drug War film. It has an incredible cast: Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, Michael Douglas, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. In addition, it’s broken into 3 storylines: one following a policeman in Mexico, another with DEA agents tracking a don, and another with the drug czar of the U.S. and his junkie daughter.

1. Elite Squad

Last but not least, here’s my favourite, the Brazilian Elite Squad. First thing you should notice is the main actor is the same guy that plays Pablo Escobar (yes Spanish is not his native language). Second you’ll notice that he’s on the other side – he’s playing a cop! It’s also directed by the same guy that directed Narcos. Three things which combine to make the ultimate substitute to Narcos! Plus the sequel is even better than the first!

The Pink Cloud – Sundance Film Festival 2021

Honestly, before I saw The Pink Cloud, I thought that The Dog Who Wouldn’t be Quiet was the best film related to the pandemic that I’d seen at Sundance. But then I saw The Pink Cloud. Like Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, it’s amazing to watch something reflect reality so well before that reality comes into place. And before you ask, this film was written in 2017, way before COVID times.

In the case of The Pink Cloud, Giovanna and Yago’s one night stand turns into a long quarantine together as an unknown pink cloud of poisonous gases shrouds the city. Anyone who steps outside for more than 10 seconds dies from the pink gases. Other people less lucky that Giovanna and Yago are stuck in supermarkets and other public buildings. It’s also not just their city in Brazil that is affected either, as like the big Hollywood disaster movies, the news shows a montage of cities around the world with the same ominous pink clouds hovering over them. Like the current pandemic, everyone is forced to adjust quickly to a new life.

After it sets up the premise, The Pink Cloud focuses on Giovanna and Yago’s relationship stuck together throughout the indefinitely long quarantine. As time progresses, the bucket lists from their single lives become a checklist of things to do in a relationship. They start doing chores, cook and eat with each other, and talk about their future together. The allure and excitement that initially drew them together fades as the permanence of their new life inside sets in. As this happens, the allure of the outside, and nature, represented in the pink cloud grows. Slow montages of the cloud frame it as pretty and tempting. Then the cloud starts to be shot with a slow zoom as if the characters are being drawn to it when they look outside. Now that they’re stuck inside, the everyday world they’d taken for granted becomes alluring. It’s a reversal of their relationship which goes from desire to boredom.

Maybe if there wasn’t a worldwide pandemic right now that mirrors The Pink Cloud’s narrative, it would resonate differently. Perhaps it would have been viewed as a warning to climate change deniers, or to those taking life for granted. In it’s current context, the quarantine comparisons are hard to avoid. It’s one of the most accurate portrayals of a relationship on lockdown.

Executive Order – Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival 2021

Executive Order starts in the court room as Antonio, a young black lawyer fights a case for reparations for Afro-Brazilians. Meanwhile, a number of Brazilian news reporters live stream footage of an old black lady entering the department of state to collect the very first reparations payment in the country. However, just as you think this is going to be a utopia from the positive start, the government officials turn the old lady away, kicking off a downward cycle of police presence and prejudice against Afro-Brazilians.

The cases of blatant and behind-closed-doors racism that the director presents don’t feel too surprising. The scenes – such as the one featuring the racist man in the bar – feel carbon copies of similar scenes documenting racist events from Hollywood movies. Neither is the descent of the country into a dystopian fascist state that forcibly deports all people with African blood back to Africa as we’ve already seen bleak dystopias on screen in The Handmaid’s Tale. However, the surprising part is that it’s mostly presented in a pretty upbeat manner. The music, colorful pictures, and light banter between the main characters matches the light tone of a Spike Lee neighborhood film. It gives the film a gospel-ish feel – that despite all the terrible things going on, there’s still hope for the Afro-Brazilian characters. Maybe it would have been too hard to see this film without the upbeat tone considering the current state of Brazilian politics. So instead of being a gritty, depressing film, Executive Order is a palatable Hollywood-style dystopian drama that allows space for a few laughs at the absurdity of the white supremacist state.

Whilst it could have been more ‘radical’ and a bit less obvious, it’s good to see a light hearted drama that anyone can watch and enjoy tackle rarely mentioned topics like reparations on the big screen.

Head to our LALIFF 2021 Hub for more reviews from the 20th edition of LALIFF.

Medusa – AFI Fest 2021

Medusa is another genre-bending movie set in contemporary Brazil (see Bacurau, Good Manners, Executive Order, or Divine Love) that corresponds with the rise in the far right and radical Christianity in Brazil. The focus of this film is on how the patriarchy is upheld by radical Christian women

In modern day Brazil, a woman watches a sexy music video of a woman dancing on her way home on the night bus. When she gets off, she’s tailed by a gang of masked women. She tries to escape, but can’t. They gang up on her, beat her up, and force her to swear fealty to Jesus and to become a good Christian woman.

The attackers are Mariana and her female friends from the local evangelical church. Their horror-genre influenced masks are obviously intimidating. However, behind the mask they’re even more sinister. Instead of carrying faces that show years of trauma and fear they carry pristine smiles and clean pastel clothes. They look like a group of preppy high-school girls and not like your typical group of thugs. Their smiles and matching identity give them a cold collective assuredness that their violence is right and justified, when it isn’t. It also highlights a lack of individuality stemming from the strict codes of their social bubble – no one wants to stand out for fear of being identified with the other, so they all try to one-up each other in their devotional acts in order to maintain their social position. They’ve already started beating up people in the street, so what are they capable of next?

The design of the film makes it clear Mariana is brainwashed by her bubble of existence. The church she attends with her friends is flavored with hypnotizing 80’s music and dystopian neon lights and features coordinated song and dance routines that make them look robotic. Plus the microphone holding, slick talking, smartly dressed preacher gives off hints of snake oil salesmen before we see his ‘miracles.’ The whole radical Christian experience is designed to indoctrinate Mariana and her friends. Plus as a reward, they get friends like them, and corresponding male counterparts in the beefy ‘Watchmen’ group that attends their same church.

Problem is they can’t control everything in their own lives. They’re still victims to the patriarchy that plays them – both represented in the male religious pastor they fervently follow and the male ‘Watchmen’ they’re expected to date and marry. They can either continue to live for the radical Christian patriarchy and stay in their bubble, or break free by expanding their bubble until it pops.

Head to our AFI Fest 2021 Hub for more reviews and short films from AFI Fest 2021.