New Order

Directed by Michel Franco, New Order details the chaos and violence that ensues after a large segment of Mexico’s population rebels and attempts to impose their own rules on society. It’s an intriguing premise that’s employed to exceedingly tedious effect by Franco, although, to be fair, the picture does open with a certain amount of promise – as the writer/director kicks the proceedings off with a portentous first few minutes that seem to promise a moody, visceral thriller. And although the all-hell-breaks-loose sequence is admittedly well done, New Order progresses into an increasingly tiresome midsection that contains exceedingly little in the way of context or plausibility – as Franco delivers a second act that generally seems to favor shock value over virtually everything else. (This is to say nothing of the myriad of questions that naturally arise from this ludicrous scenario, with the most obvious being how exactly has this ramshackle movement managed to organize to such an incredible extent?) It’s ultimately rather clear that Franco is looking to make some kind of grand social-commentary statement, but it is, in the end, hopelessly obscured by a hilariously unsubtle, ham-fisted sensibility that renders any of New Order‘s positive attributes, of which there are progressively few, entirely moot.

* out of ****