Los Bastardos

Amat Escalante's brutal and compelling feature tracks 24 hours in the lives of Jesús and Fausto, two low-paid Mexican labourers working illegally across the border in LA. When they are offered big money and a sawn-off shotgun to break into the home of and take hostage a drug addicted single mother, the scene is set for a terrifying and unpredictable encounter that will end in a shocking act of violence. This remarkable film from Mexican cinema's new wave takes a disturbing look at lives on the fringes of society, dehumanised by poverty, racism and exploitation.