After 20 years in the states, a Mexican man moves back to his home town to find it reduced to a corrupt, violence-ridden hellhole. He learns that his brother had gotten mixed up with "a bad crowd" and was killed while he was away, so he decides to start asking around for some details on what happened. It doesn't take him too long to learn that his bro was doing one of the only things a guy can do professionally in Mexico and that's get involved in the world of organized crime. He also gets romantically rapt in his brother's prostitute widow and dealing with her delinquent son when some old friends offer him a job within their crime family circle when the nephew needs some bail money. From there, his immersion into the brutal, yet highly profitable business of drug trafficking forces him to learn the ropes which gets increasingly dangerous as a cartel war intensifies.
After checking this flick out, I'd say it's clear that "El Infierno" is a bit more of a subdued portrayal of the widespread violent crime activity that is ravaging Mexico. This is mainly due to the film's rather "light" tone with occasional humor and possible propaganda tinge. Regardless, I enjoyed the film for it's rather gripping, well-paced story, interesting and well developed characters and depiction of the plundered Mexican landscape, whether it be accurate to some people or not.
There's a few fairly hard-hitting scenes of violence, such as tongue removal and chainsaw torture. Nothing all that standout, though. Plenty of nice, gritty head shots help keep it rolling along.
I'm giving "El Infierno" a pretty sizeable recommendation. On a political basis it's not a perfect film, but it's got a strong story and is pretty damn engaging. Check it out.
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