Lost in an endlessly growing queue and buried underneath thousands of rows of titles there are these few hidden gems of Netflix.
“Sin Nombre” (2009)
Rated R
96 minutes
One of my favorite genres is Spanish-language crime film. They have an intense gravitas and seriousness that is well played, for the most part. I don’t think there are many films that better exemplify this than Cary Fukunaga’s “Sin Nombre.”
The story is set in present-day Mexico and follows Willy, or “El Casper” (played by Edgar Flores), a member of the Mara Salvatrucha, a vicious street gang in the western hemisphere. After a series of tragic life-changing events, Willy finds himself on the run with a Honduran immigrant named Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) and searching for a way into the United States.
What makes this one of my favorite movies on Netflix is that while the majority of the characters break the law, in some ways much more serious than others, I never find myself hating a character.
The movie portrays the reckless violence of the Mara gang well, but it also focuses on the family-like connection the characters have with their gang. It shows why people find gangs appealing and a suitable alternative to the life they were in before.
The characters of “Sin Nombre” are amazingly well-played and written to be more relatable, despite of the unrelatability of their situations.
Awesome movie you’ve already seen: “Dumb and Dumber” (1994)
If you would like to see Jeff Daniels (Will McAvoy) from HBO’s “The Newsroom” a lot less polished and a lot more stupid, this is the movie for you.
