Días de gracia

This is a story about a young policeman, Lupe (Tenoch Huerta), who tries to fight crime and corruption in his hometown Mexico City, where drug-cartels and criminal gangs have taken over completely.

All of Lupe's partners are apparently either rotten cops or simply cowards, who are afraid of sticking up to the gangsters that run the city, so he pretty much has to fight all the bad guys himself.

All this happens during the football world cup from 2004-2008. During the 2012 world cup, we follow a dramatic kidnapping, where an unfortunate businessman (Carlos Bardem - brother of Javier) is taken for ransom by a gang of ruthless thugs.

One of the thugs is a young man/boy Doroteo (Kristyan Ferrer), who is standing on the edge of becoming a hardened criminal, but after a previous run-in with the law (in the shape of Lupe), he is still unsure about his place in life. The kidnapped man and Doroteo form a secret alliance, and their relationship evolves greatly during the world cup, of which they both are fans and followers of.

The story is told with a lot of cross-cutting between the three world cups, and it can be a little hard to follow at times, but if you pay attention, it shouldn't be too difficult.

It's a very violent and brutal story, but it is filmed beautifully, with lots of creative camera-angles, so there's always something to find an interest in on-screen. It's a highly entertaining, but also very sad story.

Recommended for those who enjoyed City of God and/or Tropa de Elite, and similar movies about gangs in South and Middle-America.