Art has proven time and time again that war is hell. In many cases, it's dehumanizing and vicious, running through victims as if their lives meant nothing. However, one can say the same thing about the training held before a war is officially declared — if a prospective soldier has been broken down well before a real conflict arises, they could prove to be a more effective fighter. At least, that's the idea.
However, as director David Zonana posits in his film "Heroic," that cruelty will only make a soldier more numb, detached, and sadistic. Such is the case with Luis (Santiago Sandoval Carbajal), a young Nahua man who enlists in the Heroic Military College to follow in his father's footsteps. While expecting the usual harshness of the military in his training, he didn't expect his superiors to treat himself and his fellow cadets with such disdain. The worst of these...
However, as director David Zonana posits in his film "Heroic," that cruelty will only make a soldier more numb, detached, and sadistic. Such is the case with Luis (Santiago Sandoval Carbajal), a young Nahua man who enlists in the Heroic Military College to follow in his father's footsteps. While expecting the usual harshness of the military in his training, he didn't expect his superiors to treat himself and his fellow cadets with such disdain. The worst of these...
- 1/21/2023
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
Not widely seen in the United States, S tense, quasi-eat-the-rich debut, “Workforce” (“Mano de obra”), followed a group of construction workers frustrated with their latest patron’s dehumanizing treatment after one of them dies on the job.
Fed up, the deceased’s brother takes over one of the properties he and his comrades worked on, turning it into a sort of commune. All of their families can live rent free inside a luxurious house that would otherwise be unattainable for them. But that seemingly idyllic setup soon begins to elicit the worst of human behavior: faced with the new circumstances these once powerless individuals get a taste of how power and greed can corrupt anyone.
Zonana’s even more incendiary follow-up, “Heroic” (“Heróico), shares some of the “Workforce” DNA in that it observes the corrosion of a person’s spirit inside an institution that perpetuates corruption and abuse under the guise of a shared goal.
Fed up, the deceased’s brother takes over one of the properties he and his comrades worked on, turning it into a sort of commune. All of their families can live rent free inside a luxurious house that would otherwise be unattainable for them. But that seemingly idyllic setup soon begins to elicit the worst of human behavior: faced with the new circumstances these once powerless individuals get a taste of how power and greed can corrupt anyone.
Zonana’s even more incendiary follow-up, “Heroic” (“Heróico), shares some of the “Workforce” DNA in that it observes the corrosion of a person’s spirit inside an institution that perpetuates corruption and abuse under the guise of a shared goal.
- 1/21/2023
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
A punishing look at extreme military indoctrination, David Zonana’s second feature, Heroic, portrays the relentless system of abuse, torture and violence that new army recruits go through while attending Mexico’s own version of West Point, which is ironically called the Heroic Military College.
Despite such a name, there are hardly any heroics on display in this cruel story of oppressed youth, and barely any developed characters. There are just the abused and the abusers, who face off in a series of increasingly unsettling confrontations that play out like the first half of Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket extended into a full movie. It’s a grim affair indeed, and one that feels close to the work of fellow Mexican director Michel Franco (New Order), credited here as producer. Whether or not it will stir up substantial interest after Sundance is another story.
Shot in starkly elegant widescreen...
Despite such a name, there are hardly any heroics on display in this cruel story of oppressed youth, and barely any developed characters. There are just the abused and the abusers, who face off in a series of increasingly unsettling confrontations that play out like the first half of Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket extended into a full movie. It’s a grim affair indeed, and one that feels close to the work of fellow Mexican director Michel Franco (New Order), credited here as producer. Whether or not it will stir up substantial interest after Sundance is another story.
Shot in starkly elegant widescreen...
- 1/21/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sepideh Farsi’s “La Sirène” (“The Siren”) is opening the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand.
The program, which comprises 35 films from 30 countries, including 28 world premieres and 11 debuts, includes new films by Patric Chiha, İlker Çatak, Frauke Finsterwalder, Maite Alberdi, Milad Alami and Apolline Traoré. They feature a galaxy of well-known protagonists and actors such as Joan Baez, Jafar Panahi, Payman Maadi, George MacKay, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Fan Bingbing, Sandra Hüller and Susanne Wolff.
Panorama Selections
“After”
by Anthony Lapia | with Louise Chevillotte, Majd Mastoura, Natalia Wiszniewska
France
World premiere | Debut film
“All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White”
by Babatunde Apalowo | with Tope Tedela, Riyo David, Martha Ehinome Orhiere, Uchechika Elumelu, Floyd Anekwe
Nigeria
World premiere | Debut film
“And, Towards Happy Alleys”
by Sreemoyee Singh | with Jafar Panahi, Nasrin Soutodeh, Jinous Nazokkar, Farhad Kheradmand, Aida Mohammadkhani
India
World premiere | Debut film | Documentary
“La Bête dans la...
The program, which comprises 35 films from 30 countries, including 28 world premieres and 11 debuts, includes new films by Patric Chiha, İlker Çatak, Frauke Finsterwalder, Maite Alberdi, Milad Alami and Apolline Traoré. They feature a galaxy of well-known protagonists and actors such as Joan Baez, Jafar Panahi, Payman Maadi, George MacKay, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Fan Bingbing, Sandra Hüller and Susanne Wolff.
Panorama Selections
“After”
by Anthony Lapia | with Louise Chevillotte, Majd Mastoura, Natalia Wiszniewska
France
World premiere | Debut film
“All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White”
by Babatunde Apalowo | with Tope Tedela, Riyo David, Martha Ehinome Orhiere, Uchechika Elumelu, Floyd Anekwe
Nigeria
World premiere | Debut film
“And, Towards Happy Alleys”
by Sreemoyee Singh | with Jafar Panahi, Nasrin Soutodeh, Jinous Nazokkar, Farhad Kheradmand, Aida Mohammadkhani
India
World premiere | Debut film | Documentary
“La Bête dans la...
- 1/18/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
If you’ve found yourself having just too good a time lately and need that to come to an end, hotfoot it to New Order, the new ordeal from Mexican director Michel Franco. In just 86 brisk, effectively brutalizing minutes, any tentative optimism you might have been feeling — say, due to a jaunty walk to a newly-reopened movie theater in sunny weather — will completely dissipate into a far more familiar downer fug. Not to suggest it’s all doom and depression! The film also makes you feel unpleasantly dirty.
Franco is...
Franco is...
- 5/26/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Rollingstone.com
New Order Trailer — Michel Franco‘s New Order / Nuevo orden (2020) movie trailer has been released by Neon. The New Order trailer stars Diego Boneta, Naian Gonzalez Norvind, Samantha Yazareth Anaya, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Patricia Bernal, Monica del Carmen, Fernando Cuautle, Roberto Medina, Lisa Owen, Enrique Singer, Eligio Melendez, and Gustavo Sanchez Parra. Crew Michel [...]
Continue reading: New Order Trailer: Class Warfare & Revolution springs forth in Michel Franco’s 2020 Near-future Dystopia Movie...
Continue reading: New Order Trailer: Class Warfare & Revolution springs forth in Michel Franco’s 2020 Near-future Dystopia Movie...
- 4/25/2021
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
"Powerful and necessary." Neon has debuted a new full US trailer for the Mexican film New Order, which originally premiered at the Venice + Toronto Film Festivals last year. Nuevo Orden (in Spanish) is the latest film from acclaimed filmmaker Michel Franco and is described as a "gripping, hard-hitting, dystopian drama." This definitely looks intense. A lavish high-society wedding unexpectedly turns into a class struggle that leads to a violent coup. The film has already received a mix of scathing and raving reviews, criticizing the film's depiction of the lower class, though it's hard to tell without seeing it first. Starring Naian González Norvind, Diego Boneta, Mónica del Carmen, Fernando Cuautle, Darío Yazbek, Roberto Medina, Patricia Bernal, Lisa Owen, and Enrique Singer. It's now set for release in theaters in the US this May. This more I see of this, the more curious I am to watch it. Here's the official...
- 4/21/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
"A necessary fiction... about a reality in the very near future." The Match Factory has released a full-length official trailer for the Mexican film New Order, which originally premiered at the Venice + Toronto Film Festivals this year. Nuevo Orden (in Spanish) is the latest film from acclaimed filmmaker Michel Franco and is described as a "gripping, hard-hitting, dystopian drama." A high-society wedding is interrupted by the arrival of unwelcome guests. What will happen next? The film stars Naian González Norvind, Diego Boneta, Mónica del Carmen, Fernando Cuautle, Darío Yazbek, Roberto Medina, Patricia Bernal, Lisa Owen, and Enrique Singer. It looks super intense and very dark and very brutal. There's a controversy around its depiction of the lower class people, making them seem like thugs, and the wealthy well-rounded. But we all know that's not true. But I'm still curious... Here's the full-length promo trailer for Michel Franco's New Order, direct...
- 12/22/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Michel Franco’s dystopian drama played at Toronto and scored success at Venice.
Ascot Elite Entertainment has picked up all rights for German-speaking Europe and Switzerland to Michel Franco’s New Order, in a deal struck with The Match Factory.
The Zurich-based distributor plans to release the dystopian drama, which won the grand jury prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival, in 2021.
Franco’s drama chronicles a shocking class uprising set in the near future in an unspecified Mexican location, seen through the eyes of a young bride and the servants who work for her wealthy family.
The ensemble cast includes Naian González Norvind,...
Ascot Elite Entertainment has picked up all rights for German-speaking Europe and Switzerland to Michel Franco’s New Order, in a deal struck with The Match Factory.
The Zurich-based distributor plans to release the dystopian drama, which won the grand jury prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival, in 2021.
Franco’s drama chronicles a shocking class uprising set in the near future in an unspecified Mexican location, seen through the eyes of a young bride and the servants who work for her wealthy family.
The ensemble cast includes Naian González Norvind,...
- 11/4/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Arthouse outfit Mubi has struck a deal with sales firm The Match Factory for all UK and Ireland rights to Michel Franco’s Venice Film Festival drama New Order, which won the festival’s Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize.
Conceived six years ago, Franco’s (After Lucia) timely class conflict drama sees a high-society wedding interrupted by the arrival of unwelcome guests as protests rage on the streets. We debuted first footage for the film earlier this month.
Parasite distributor Neon just picked the Spanish-language film up for North America. It will next play at BFI London Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival. The movie also played at San Sebastian Film Festival and made its North American debut at Toronto.
Written, produced and directed by Franco, the film features an ensemble cast comprised of Naian González Norvind, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Lisa Owen, Fernando Cuautle, Mónica Del Carmen, Eligio Meléndez,...
Conceived six years ago, Franco’s (After Lucia) timely class conflict drama sees a high-society wedding interrupted by the arrival of unwelcome guests as protests rage on the streets. We debuted first footage for the film earlier this month.
Parasite distributor Neon just picked the Spanish-language film up for North America. It will next play at BFI London Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival. The movie also played at San Sebastian Film Festival and made its North American debut at Toronto.
Written, produced and directed by Franco, the film features an ensemble cast comprised of Naian González Norvind, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Lisa Owen, Fernando Cuautle, Mónica Del Carmen, Eligio Meléndez,...
- 10/1/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Dystopian drama plays next at BFI London Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival.
Neon has picked up North American rights to Michel Franco’s Venice grand jury prize-winner New Order.
The distributor will announce a theatrical release in due course. New Order screened at Toronto and San Sebastián, and will play next at BFI London Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival.
Franco’s drama chronicles a shocking class uprising set in the near future in an unspecified Mexican location.
The story opens with indigenous protestors storming a society wedding and charts the ensuing developments as the army takes control,...
Neon has picked up North American rights to Michel Franco’s Venice grand jury prize-winner New Order.
The distributor will announce a theatrical release in due course. New Order screened at Toronto and San Sebastián, and will play next at BFI London Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival.
Franco’s drama chronicles a shocking class uprising set in the near future in an unspecified Mexican location.
The story opens with indigenous protestors storming a society wedding and charts the ensuing developments as the army takes control,...
- 9/29/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Neon has acquired the North American rights to “New Order,” the latest feature from Mexican auteur Michel Franco that won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival this year.
“New Order” also made its North American premiere at Toronto and will next play at the BFI London Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival. Neon is planning a theatrical release for the film but will announce release plans at a later date.
“New Order” is a dystopian drama set in the near future that grapples class dynamics and government recapitulation, and it concerns a woman from a high society family trying to prepare for a wedding but is unable to keep protests and the real world from disturbing the party.
Franco conceived the film six years earlier, but critics have already hailed the film for its prescient themes. “New Order” is the follow-up to Franco...
“New Order” also made its North American premiere at Toronto and will next play at the BFI London Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival. Neon is planning a theatrical release for the film but will announce release plans at a later date.
“New Order” is a dystopian drama set in the near future that grapples class dynamics and government recapitulation, and it concerns a woman from a high society family trying to prepare for a wedding but is unable to keep protests and the real world from disturbing the party.
Franco conceived the film six years earlier, but critics have already hailed the film for its prescient themes. “New Order” is the follow-up to Franco...
- 9/29/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Neon has acquired North American rights to Michel Franco’s dystopian social thriller “New Order.” The movie was this year’s winner of the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Set in a near-future Mexico City while protests rage, “New Order” focuses on a high society family preparing for a wedding when a former employee seeking emergency medical funds intrudes on the festivities. But soon the party is unable to keep the reckoning at bay, followed by a swift disintegration of law and order defined first by class lines.
“New Order” is written, produced and directed by Franco, who conceived the project six years ago. The cast includes Naian González Norvind, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Lisa Owen, Fernando Cuautle and Mónica Del Carmen.
“In making ‘New Order,’ I had to think about movies in a whole new way,” Franco said. “It’s not only my largest scale film,...
Set in a near-future Mexico City while protests rage, “New Order” focuses on a high society family preparing for a wedding when a former employee seeking emergency medical funds intrudes on the festivities. But soon the party is unable to keep the reckoning at bay, followed by a swift disintegration of law and order defined first by class lines.
“New Order” is written, produced and directed by Franco, who conceived the project six years ago. The cast includes Naian González Norvind, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Lisa Owen, Fernando Cuautle and Mónica Del Carmen.
“In making ‘New Order,’ I had to think about movies in a whole new way,” Franco said. “It’s not only my largest scale film,...
- 9/29/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Neon has taken North American rights to Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco’s latest feature New Order, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize.
Conceived six years ago, Franco’s timely class conflict drama sees a high-society wedding interrupted by the arrival of unwelcome guests as protests rage on the streets. We debuted first footage for the film earlier this month.
Mason Speta negotiated the deal for Parasite distributor Neon with ICM Partners on behalf of the filmmakers. The Match Factory is handling international sales.
Neon intends a theatrical release that will be announced at a later date. The film will next play at BFI London Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival. It also played at San Sebastian Film Festival and made its North American debut at Toronto.
Written, produced and directed by Franco, the film features an ensemble cast comprised of Naian González Norvind,...
Conceived six years ago, Franco’s timely class conflict drama sees a high-society wedding interrupted by the arrival of unwelcome guests as protests rage on the streets. We debuted first footage for the film earlier this month.
Mason Speta negotiated the deal for Parasite distributor Neon with ICM Partners on behalf of the filmmakers. The Match Factory is handling international sales.
Neon intends a theatrical release that will be announced at a later date. The film will next play at BFI London Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival. It also played at San Sebastian Film Festival and made its North American debut at Toronto.
Written, produced and directed by Franco, the film features an ensemble cast comprised of Naian González Norvind,...
- 9/29/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
For “New Order” star Diego Boneta, Michel Franco’s TIFF entry is a first for many reasons. Mainly, it’s his first Mexican film — previously, he had been told by the Mexican film industry that he wasn’t “Mexican enough” to star in Mexican films.
“This is a special one for me because it’s my first Mexican movie,” Boneta told TheWrap’s Beatrice Verhoeven. “Being from Mexico, and having moved here almost 14 years ago, my career didn’t take the conventional path of doing Mexican films and then going to the States. It was quite the opposite — my first film was in the U.S. with ‘Rock of Ages.’ The Mexican film industry said that I didn’t look Mexican enough to be in a Mexican film until Michel came along.”
He also said that Franco had called him to tell him that he wrote a part specifically for Boneta in his new film,...
“This is a special one for me because it’s my first Mexican movie,” Boneta told TheWrap’s Beatrice Verhoeven. “Being from Mexico, and having moved here almost 14 years ago, my career didn’t take the conventional path of doing Mexican films and then going to the States. It was quite the opposite — my first film was in the U.S. with ‘Rock of Ages.’ The Mexican film industry said that I didn’t look Mexican enough to be in a Mexican film until Michel came along.”
He also said that Franco had called him to tell him that he wrote a part specifically for Boneta in his new film,...
- 9/16/2020
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Michel Franco’s dystopian thriller won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Leading German sales company The Match Factory has closed key deals on Michel Franco’s dystopian thriller New Order, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
The film has sold to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau (Hgc), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), Spain (A Contracorriente), Scandinavia (Future Film), Benelux (Filmfreak), Greece (Weirdwave) and Israel (Lev).
Further key deals are being negotiated, according to The Match Factory, while ICM is working on a North American deal.
As well as the Silver Lion,...
Leading German sales company The Match Factory has closed key deals on Michel Franco’s dystopian thriller New Order, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
The film has sold to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau (Hgc), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), Spain (A Contracorriente), Scandinavia (Future Film), Benelux (Filmfreak), Greece (Weirdwave) and Israel (Lev).
Further key deals are being negotiated, according to The Match Factory, while ICM is working on a North American deal.
As well as the Silver Lion,...
- 9/14/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Mexican director Michel Franco’s latest, dystopian shock drama “New Order,” proves to be the most punishing entry in a difficult oeuvre, which may sound harsh but isn’t meant as an insult.
A cold and sometimes overly intellectual filmmaker, Franco knows how to make an audience squirm. That’s part of the bargain when we buy a ticket to one of his movies. In “After Lucia,” he asked viewers — trapped in their seats, helpless to intervene — to observe a vulnerable teen’s life go off the rails after a video of her having drunken sex went viral. In “Chronic,” he spotlighted the emotional burden society heaps upon hospice nurses, with tragic results.
But how many people actually saw these films? Now, in Franco’s sixth feature, the director demands the public’s attention, launching a full-on assault on our collective comfort zone while doubling down on the very thing...
A cold and sometimes overly intellectual filmmaker, Franco knows how to make an audience squirm. That’s part of the bargain when we buy a ticket to one of his movies. In “After Lucia,” he asked viewers — trapped in their seats, helpless to intervene — to observe a vulnerable teen’s life go off the rails after a video of her having drunken sex went viral. In “Chronic,” he spotlighted the emotional burden society heaps upon hospice nurses, with tragic results.
But how many people actually saw these films? Now, in Franco’s sixth feature, the director demands the public’s attention, launching a full-on assault on our collective comfort zone while doubling down on the very thing...
- 9/10/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
New work from Idris Elba, Halle Berry, Mark Wahlberg, Vanessa Kirby.
It is a slimline Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year but there are still plenty of acquisition titles on offer for distributors looking to fill 2021 and 2022 slots.
Here we take a look at some of the available films that are likely to be among the more sought after prospects.
TIFF runs from September 10-19 and opens on Thursday with David Byrne’s American Utopia directed by Spike Lee. Click here for Screen’s report on the line-up, and here for the TIFF Industry Selects roster.
Good Joe Bell...
It is a slimline Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year but there are still plenty of acquisition titles on offer for distributors looking to fill 2021 and 2022 slots.
Here we take a look at some of the available films that are likely to be among the more sought after prospects.
TIFF runs from September 10-19 and opens on Thursday with David Byrne’s American Utopia directed by Spike Lee. Click here for Screen’s report on the line-up, and here for the TIFF Industry Selects roster.
Good Joe Bell...
- 9/8/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
It's time for a new order! The Match Factory has also released a promo teaser trailer for a Mexican film premiering at the Venice Film Festival this year titled New Order. Nuevo Orden (in Spanish) is the latest film from acclaimed filmmaker Michel Franco and is described in this trailer as a "gripping, hard-hitting, dystopian drama." This looks intense already and it's barely 45 seconds of footage. A high-society wedding is interrupted by the arrival of unwelcome guests, in what Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera calls "Franco's most ambitious & darkest film yet." The film stars Naian González Norvind, Diego Boneta, Mónica del Carmen, Fernando Cuautle, Darío Yazbek, Roberto Medina, Patricia Bernal, Lisa Owen, and Enrique Singer. This is looking great already. Not exactly sure what all the green is about, but I'm certainly curious to find out. Rattle those high society cages. Here's the first festival teaser trailer for Michel Franco's New Order,...
- 8/24/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Dystopian drama has been selected for Toronto and will debut at Venice in competition.
Leading German sales company The Match Factory has acquired international sales rights to Michel Franco’s New Order, which was today selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The film, which will receive its world premiere in competition at Venice ahead of TIFF, marks the first collaboration between The Match Factory and Franco’s Mexican production company Teorema.
The dystopian drama explores Mexico’s economic and social inequalities through a high-society wedding, which is crashed by a group of impoverished people. The cast...
Leading German sales company The Match Factory has acquired international sales rights to Michel Franco’s New Order, which was today selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The film, which will receive its world premiere in competition at Venice ahead of TIFF, marks the first collaboration between The Match Factory and Franco’s Mexican production company Teorema.
The dystopian drama explores Mexico’s economic and social inequalities through a high-society wedding, which is crashed by a group of impoverished people. The cast...
- 7/30/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.