Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

Loosely based on real events, this harrowing, superbly made drama by fast-rising filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo (I'm Gonna Explode) is Mexico's 2012 submission for Best Foreign Language Film - rightfully so.

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

A first-rate art-house thriller, Miss Bala tells the strange, seemingly impossible story of a Mexican beauty queen who becomes the accidental pawn of a drug cartel. It's an adventure story that could be called a contemporary picaresque if it weren't so deadly serious.

IndieWire by Eric Kohn

In each tense moment, Miss Bala has a lot to say in a few words.

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

Miss Bala toes a delicate line between exploitation movie and movie about exploitation, but that's part of what gives the film its charge - this isn't some flaccid docudrama about how the cartels are poisoning the country, it's a lively, white-knuckle thriller where any such proselytizing is reduced to implication.

Salon by Andrew O'Hehir

Terrifically choreographed, violent and amoral, but never wantonly cruel, Miss Bala is a knockout.

Los Angeles Times by Betsy Sharkey

What the film captures so effectively is the cultural reality of Mexico's ubiquitous underclass.

Time by Richard Corliss

Miss Bala is a tragedy rendered with the savviest, moviewise virtuosity. A young woman's despair, and a nation's, was never so damned entertaining.

LarsenOnFilm by Josh Larsen

In Miss Bala, sexism doesn’t take sides, but is rather a harrowing, pervasive, dehumanizing force that even turns fashion into a weapon.

Variety

With the blistering firecracker that is Miss Bala, next-gen Mexican director and AFI grad Gerardo Naranjo delivers on the promise of such well-respected early pics as "Drama/Mex" and "I'm Gonna Explode," revealing them as dry runs for this "Scarface"-scary depiction of south-of-the-border crime run amok.

The Hollywood Reporter

Fast and dangerous, Miss Bala is a hair-raising actioner.

Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf

There's a wild, "Miami Blues"–like dreaminess to the movie that's addictive. If anything, it shows up exactly what "Little Miss Sunshine" lacked: plenty of ammo.

The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young

Fast and dangerous, Miss Bala is a hair-raising actioner.

Rolling Stone by Peter Travers

Naranjo, a graduate of the American Film Institute, has a gift for staging action that defines character. The film is a harrowing experience. It cuts deep.

Movieline by Stephanie Zacharek

Naranjo keeps the action tense but understated; instead of allowing explosions and shootouts to pile up, he rations them in taut doses.

Village Voice

The character is intentionally lightly drawn: Laura's suffering is symbolic, a surrogate for the suffering of a society helplessly caught in the crossfire.

Empire by Anna Smith

That innocuous title disguises a Mexican thriller with genuine bite, though the hokey ending doesn't quite live up to the edgy plotting and Sigman's classy turn as a tough heroine in an impossible situation.