AV Club: With the cartels tightening their grip on Mexican border towns, it doesn’t take a cryptographer to read the message of a thriller like Gerardo Naranjo’s Miss Bala, which expresses solidarity with the ordinary, innocent citizens who get caught in the crossfire. It’s how Naranjo expresses it that matters: Shot in long, dynamic takes, often from unconventional vantage points, the film moves at a relentless pace, following a heroine who’s been forced into a dangerous situation with very little room to maneuver. (Indie film, Miss Bala) A-/A+