In Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, there is an average of eight drug-related murders every day. Making use of stock footage and on-location interviews, Charlie Minn’s documentary 8 Murders a Day exposes the city as the epicenter of a bloody conflict where governments on both sides of the border are just as responsible as the warring drug cartels themselves.
No politician is spared from criticism, but Mexican president Felipe Calderón not only is blamed for the violence, but it is suggested he’s more interested in reaping the benefits from the drug money than stopping the violence.
Yes, the so called “war on drugs” is bullshit, but writer Charles Bowden hits the twisted nail on its complacent head with the film’s best line: “This is a fake war — unless you’re a corpse.”
★★★
8 Murders a Day
Dir. Charlie Minn
Opens Sept 23 at AMC Huebner 24 and Santikos Mayan