Police corruption in Mexico is a huge and widespread problem. This documentary is about two Mexican police officers who basically testify to that corruption. However, director and co-writer Alonso Ruizpalacios doesn't let it known that this is a documentary. He places his camera in the cop car of a female police officer. We follow her as she responds to a woman in labor in the middle of the night. One problem that's spotlighted right away is the slow response time or lack thereof. We then follow this female cop the next day, as she wakes up, has breakfast, does some chores and showers. We hear her narrating. We even see her speaking directly to camera. Yet, it's not clear if this film is a documentary or is simply using documentary techniques. It's not clear if this female cop is a real person or is an actress.
Her name is María Teresa Hernández Cañas. She's simply known as Teresa. She's 34. She says she's been a cop for about 17 years. She became a cop because her father was a cop. She wasn't aware of the danger that her dad faced, but she narrates the night that her father was shot. That night is depicted and Teresa is in the back-seat of her dad's cop car for the whole thing, watching it as a cop herself reflecting on the whole thing. She comments on it, as she again looks into the camera. She talks about how people in Mexico don't trust the police or like them much. At the same time, people are very brazen with openly bribing cops like Teresa to go away or look the other way for whatever possible infraction.
The other cop in question here is José de Jesús Rodríguez Hernández. He's simply known as Montoya. He was raised by a single mom. He grew up in a rough neighborhood. He had a lot of issues growing up. He began acting like a dog. He even considered committing suicide. He knew he had limited options. His friend became a criminal. Eventually, he decided to follow in his brother's footsteps and he became a cop. His issues continued, but what helped is his meeting of Teresa and falling in love with her.
Seeing Montoya's story provides a glimpse as to why cops could be vulnerable or susceptible to corruption. Instead of diving deeper into that, the film breaks its format. Literally, it goes from being a docudrama to what feels like behind-the-scenes extras on a Blu-ray or DVD. Cell phone video is incorporated. What's gleaned is that the training for police officers feels mostly insufficient or inadequate.
None of that is really of consequence because the film then cuts back to the format it was employing from the beginning and the rest of the film is defined by a random incident one night. One night Teresa tries to do her job and address an infraction, which is a bit unclear but it seems to be illegal parking or something. This leads to them receiving backlash from the higher ups in the police department because the infraction involved a political figure who has been bribing or colluding with the police. It's not clear what the relationship was. It results in Teresa and Montoya getting penalized.
Unfortunately, because the format jumps around and things aren't super clear, I can't fully go along with this film. I think a better documentary that addresses issues akin to the ones here is Stephen Maing's Crime + Punishment (2018) or The Seven Five (2015). This film had a very interesting sequence where Montoya is working a gay pride parade. I'm not sure if it's meant to be a random assignment, showing his slight discomfort, or if it's meant to be purposeful of something. I don't know what that something is though.
Una película de policías.
Rated R for language and brief sexuality.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 47 mins.
Available on Netflix.
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