Review by Stephanie Scaife
Heli may seem like an unusual choice of film for us to cover here at Brutal as Hell, but although it may not be a genre film, it’s certainly brutal and it falls firmly into the extremely bleak camp of films-I-never-want-to-see-again, along with the likes of Requiem for a Dream and Snowtown. I’m a firm believer that the scariest and most disturbing films are always those that feel real; there’s nothing supernatural or outlandish, just simple human suffering. Directed by Amat Escalante (Los Bastardos), Heli deals with how the complacency of the establishment and the power of the drug cartels can impact everyday life in contemporary Mexico and it doesn’t pull any punches in doing so.
Heli (Armando Espitia) works the night shift at a local auto plant and he shares a simple life with his frustrated wife Sabrina (Linda González), their newborn baby, his little sister Estela (Andrea Vergara) and their father. Estela seems to think that she has found a way out of her monotonous life in the shape of an older boyfriend, Beto (Juan Eduardo Palacios), a young recruit who is currently undergoing some particularly horrible training to join the police force (being made to roll in his own vomit appears to be the lesser of his punishments). Perhaps without truly realising what she is agreeing to Estela allows Beto to hide some stolen cocaine in the water tank above her house and when Heli discovers what they have done he quickly disposes of the drugs in a scene that left had me yelling “Don’t do it!” at the television screen, because of course by throwing away vast quantities of cocaine things were never going to end well…
No sooner has this happened and the cartel comes looking for the missing drugs with predictably devastating consequences for Heli and his family, including a now infamous torture scene involving flaming genitals. Despite these bursts of incredible violence Heli works more as an observational piece; it’s not a thriller or a drama per se and the narrative is often frustratingly impenetrable, which has been a complaint of some about the film. However I sort of appreciated the ability of Heli to capture the mundanity of violence within this world that it inhabits, which is exemplified in one scene where a man is being tortured by two cartel henchmen and one says, “What did this one do?” to which the other replies, “Who knows”. To these two young men committing heinous acts of violence is just what they do as a job and it appears to have no effect on them whatsoever. If anything this makes the scene even more shocking, the fact that nobody really cares as the brutality is so intrinsic to their day-to-day lives.
The ending is surprisingly somewhat uplifting, but manages to be so in a very subdued way that I found both refreshing yet also a little depressing. The message is essentially that life goes on, despite what this family has been through and as long as the police are corrupt and the cartel holds the power then nothing will change, they should just be grateful to be alive. Heli clearly isn’t for everyone; there is a pervading sense of dread that seeps through every scene and some truly abhorrent scenes of violence. There is a lot to admire though, particularly in the cinematography from Lorenzo Hangerman whose previous work has predominantly been in documentary filmmaking. The film is full of striking shots yet manages to retain a naturalistic feel creating the quite haunting effect of making something grim look so beautiful and real.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Heli because it is a very tough watch, however with some excellent performances (from largely non professional actors) and a unique visual aesthetic it’s certainly one of the best and most accomplished films I’ve seen so far this year that is best approached with a strong stomach and a steely reserve.
Heli is out now on DVD and Blu-ray from Network.