Aspiring beauty queen Laura Guerrero finds her dreams of becoming Miss Baja California dashed after witnessing a nightclub bloodbath, and becoming hopelessly caught up in a raging drug war.

Vividly told in a series of awe-inspiring long takes, Miss Bala is a bold, bruising crime thriller about corruption and gang violence spinning out of control—and a woman in the middle who tries her best to hold on. A highlight of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.