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Poster for Cartel Land

Cartel Land

2015 · 1h 40m · R Documentary, Drama
Directed by Matthew Heineman

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Overview

In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as "El Doctor," shepherds a citizen uprising against the Knights Templar, the violent drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Altar Valley—a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley—Tim "Nailer" Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to halt Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across our border.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
89%
Tomatometer
Fresh

There are scenes here unlike anything you've seen. Timely, thoughtful and supremely well-constructed, we'd be stunned if this isn't the doc to beat on Oscar night.

Tom Huddleston, Time Out
Fresh

This raw and compelling (if necessarily incomplete) documentary focuses on the recent battles between drug cartels and vigilantes along the Arizona-Mexico border.

John Hartl, Seattle Times
Fresh

Shot in times of serious danger, it balances idealism and violence, triggering an adrenaline high and a sense of soul-crushing hopelessness in the same instant.

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Fresh

Even if it leaves you wanting more, "Cartel Land" deserves to be seen.

Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Fresh

Much of the documentary Cartel Land, an immersion into the Mexican drug traffickers and citizen vigilantes, is hair-raisingly intense.

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

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