Miss BalaMovies like Miss Bala
- Key Features:
- Beauty pageant, Organized crime, Mexico, Survival, Innocence lost, Drug cartel, Violence-high, Thriller, Crime, Female protagonist
- Tone:
- serious, gritty, suspense-driven
- Target Audience:
- Fans of crime thrillers, Viewers interested in stories about survival, People interested in social commentary, Fans of strong female leads
- Emotional Arc:
- Hope → Fear → Desperation
Miss Bala

The story of a young woman clinging on to her dream to become a beauty contest queen in a Mexico dominated by organized crime.
Miss Bala
Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength.

Rosario Tijeras has been abused by men all her life, initially by her stepfather. Years later, she works as a paid assassin, seducing men and killing them when they least expect it. She meets Emilio, a wealthy womanizer, and his best friend, Antonio, at a nightclub, and starts an affair with Emilio despite Antonio's growing feelings for her. But circumstances bring her closer to Antonio, until her past catches up with her in a devastating way.

Cielo is a mother whose teenage daughter is kidnapped in Northern Mexico. When the authorities offer no support in the search, Cielo takes matters into her own hands and transforms from housewife into a vengeful militant.

In the Mexican-Guatemalan border, young teenage lovers, Sabina and Jovany, both Hondurans, accidentally meet again after some years without seeing each other. She plans to get to the United States and dreams about being a great singer; he commits all the required atrocities to be accepted by the gang: la Mara Salvatrucha. Sabina and Jovany crashed with the most adverse conditions at the border like white slavery, the Mexican and American migratory agents Burrona and Patrick, the brothel matron Doña Lita, Don Nico the Mexican Consul in Tecún Umán, the drug trafficking networks, the army and la Mara Salvatrucha.

When a former BlackRose cartel assassin deliberately betrays them by refusing to complete her mission, the cartel orders her execution. Unbeknownst to them, she fakes her own death and is able to create a new life of her own. When the cartel discovers she is alive, the hunter becomes the hunted as she fights to get revenge on those who took her new life away from her.

Heli must try and protect his young family when his 12-year-old sister inadvertently involves them in the brutal drug world. He must battle against the drug cartel that have been angered as well as the corrupt police force.

Four ambitious and beautiful young women. From four very different corners of Mexico. Just like hundreds of others, they are caught up in the frenzy that sweeps the nation when Alejandro Mateos, one of the country's most powerful producers, dreams up a nationwide talent search to cast the lead in his next big movie. But all this is news to Alejandro's on-again, off-again lover, Eva Gallardo, a diva of epic proportions, who expected to get the part. While Eva schemes to nail down the role, our four leads begin their own journey on the road to fame.

A maligned police officer receives one last chance to save her career when she must break up a crime syndicate by masquerading as one of their own.

Laura is a successful plastic surgeon who feels her life is somewhat empty. She meets a young nurse and falls in love and experiences sexuality to a extent not known to her. However, this spiral of desire and seduction is a dangerous game where no one is who they appear to be.

Two men commit a robbery. One is caught but the other escapes. He ends his escape on a lonely and deserted beach where he meets a beautiful woman named Erótica. They start a passionate love affair that is interrupted when the other con man escapes from prison and joins them. A sexual/sentimental love triangle begins leading to a violent confrontation between the two men.

Leyre lives a quiet and comfortable life which ends abruptly when an act of rage of her teenage son leads her to protect him by any means necessary.

Famed aesthetician Hope Goldman is about to take her career to the next level by launching her very own skin care line. However, she soon faces a new challenge when a rival opens a boutique directly across from her store. Suspecting that someone is trying to sabotage her, she embarks on a quest to unravel the mystery of who's trying to destroy her life.

American corporations are using the North American Free Trade Agreement by opening large maquiladoras right across the United States–Mexico border. The maquiladoras hire mostly Mexican women to work long hours for little money in order to produce mass quantity products. Lauren Adrian, an impassioned American news reporter for the Chicago Sentinel wants to be assigned to the Iraq front-lines to cover the war. Instead, her editor George Morgan assigns her to investigate a series of slayings involving young maquiladora factory women in a Mexican bordertown.

In the near future, a popular uprising in Mexico City interrupts a wedding held at the home of a wealthy family. After the riots have been quashed, they discover the bride has gone missing and plea with the military to help locate her.

Handsome 25-year-old Cesar had it all -- a successful career, expensive cars, a swank bachelor's pad, and an endless string of beautiful and willing women -- until he is thrown into a strange psychological mystery after a car accident scars his face and lands him in prison.

A young man seeking his sexual identity decides to take part in the Miss France beauty pageant.

A female Psychologist who has stopped practicing medicine, decides to take the case of Veronica de la Serna, a young woman whose previous therapist has mysteriously disappeared.

A veteran call girl and a runaway prostitute witness a murder which sends them on an out-of-control roller coaster ride through the twilight zone of sex-for-sale.

Taylor is forced to hide the young daughter of a Colombian woman in witness protection who will be testifying against a powerful drug cartel in Federal Court, as ruthless sicarios aim to hunt them down.

Follows a police officer who must retrieve an eyewitness and escort her after a cartel shooting leaves several DEA agents dead, but then he must decide who to trust when they discover that the attack was executed by American forces.

Three thugs kidnap Emma, the daughter of a drug kingpin, and have no idea that murderous blood that runs through her veins. As time passes, the unlucky threesome finds themselves in danger from the police, gangsters and their captive.

Olga discovers the unfinished diary of a notorious killer and becomes captivated by its dark secrets. As she delves deeper, she uncovers a mysterious connection between them, putting her life—and the lives of those around her—in grave danger.

Grace, an aspiring model, is thrilled to have fashion photographer Hunter Kelly help launch her career. But when Grace is held against her will, Hunter’s true intention to use her as his next “star” on a sexy website is revealed. With courage and resourcefulness, Grace must now find a way to escape before she becomes Hunter’s next model murder victim. Inspired by true events.

During a mysterious thunderstorm, Vera, a young mother, manages to save a life in danger, but her good deed causes a disturbing chain of unexpected consequences.

A Texas cop, whose own daughter might have been forced into sexual slavery, joins forces with a Mexican youth to find the boy's sister, who was abducted and forced into prostitution. Meanwhile, a Polish woman who was promised a better life in America also becomes a victim.

Maria Laura "Mala" is an actress with little luck, but she is successful working for other women, seducing their boyfriends to know if they are faithful or not. But everything changes when her dream to perform in her acting career depends on a job to be performed with Santiago who breaks the pattern and shakes her professional convictions.

A young and fiercely independent woman, Carmen, is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother. She survives an illegal border crossing into the US, only to be confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard. When the border guard and his patrol partner Aidan become embroiled in a deadly standoff, the pair is forced to escape together.

After being deported back to Mexico, a man has no choice but to join the vicious drug cartel that has corrupted his hometown in order to survive.

A blind witness and a runaway help the police find the suspect in a hit and run until the culprit realizes that they are close on his trail. The killer tracks her down and Soo-ah realizes that in order to save Gi-sub she would have to risk her life.

After disappearing from a small Polish town, a mother discovers her 4-year old daughter, Ola, has been abducted by the Russian Mafia. In pursuit of her daughter, she is stopped for speeding by a police officer, Robert Goc. His intervention results in the escape of the kidnappers across the Eastern border. Feeling guilt for failing to prevent the abduction, Robert becomes engaged in an international investigation to find the missing girl.

During a murder investigation, the police uncover a human trafficking network that involves a politician the media is protecting.

A bizarre black comedy about a man whose overwhelming ambition in life is to be a renowned serial killer of women, and will stop at nothing to achieve it - but not everything goes according to plan...

A young Mexican woman crosses the border in search of the American dream, only to instead find her worst nightmare lying within.

A woman's past as a convict follows her everywhere and because of this she doesn't open up to others. But then she strikes up a friendship with a broken child who has suffered from domestic violence and decides to save the girl from the cruel world. A man who holds feelings for the woman, tries to protect her in his own way.

While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured to death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student at her college...

A young actress rehearsing for a play about human trafficking begins to relive terrifying scenes that may be dreams -- or an alternate reality.

A special forces team is sent to snuff out a drug den, but find themselves trapped inside it after being set-up and betrayed.

Cagalera and Moloteco are two teenagers from San Gregorio Atlapulco who are desperate to get out and move up and away from oppressive circumstances. When they hear of an opportunity to buy a spot in the electrician’s union, which could transform their lives, they quickly devolve into the criminal, adult underworld of Mexico City in a bid to buy their freedom.

Fatherless barrio Puerto Rican Rico is a menial car mechanic by day, but lives for the nights, when he dances and dates hot dancing girls, cockily convinced the title of Salsa king in fancy nightclub La Luna's upcoming contest is to be his. He encourages his best friend, courteous gentleman Ken, to date his sister Margarita so he gets a free hand with her flirtatious classmate Lola. The reigning salsa queen Luna's interest in Rico as dance-partner threatens his on-off relationship with Vicki. More jealous trouble follows when Ken and Margarita fall in true love.

When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, the pair go on the run in New York.

Lucía, a club dancer on the run, takes refuge in a sinister building on the outskirts of Madrid where her sister Rocío lives with her daughter Alba.

A single mother is an expert in black magic, but has never used it to do evil, until a prostitution network kidnaps her daughter.

Emanuelle is framed by a corrupt D.A. while investigating a drug smuggling operation and has to tough it out under lock and key, dealing with a strict warden and abusive guards.

A conflicted youth confesses to crimes he didn't commit while a man and woman aroused by death become obsessed with each other.

When her mother suddenly disappears with no one to care for her, young Estrella ends up on the street and joins a gang of children, triggering a dangerous and tragic chain of events.

A playboy has the tables turned on him when he finds himself being used as a plaything by an undesirable woman.

A young drug dealer falls in love while facing disruption among the men in his gang, and being offered a career as a Reggaetón singer.

A woman runs for her life though the streets of Los Angeles after her blind date suddenly turns violent.

A former U.S. Navy Seal is forced to become the international criminal he once fought against when a powerful and violent drug cartel kidnaps his wife and daughter.

Catalina is a young, beautiful girl living in extreme poverty with her brother Bayron and her mother Hilda. She becomes obsessed with getting breast implants to get social status and money. She leaves her boyfriend Albeira and becomes a prostitute for drug dealers. In this way she will enjoy all the luxuries that she lacks. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend Albeira and her mother Hilda begin a relationship behind her back.

When her son's alleged kidnapper is released for lack of solid evidence, a reputable and well-known attorney takes matters into her own hands with unintended and spectacularly disastrous consequences.

A group of contest winners arrive at an island hotel to live out their dreams, only to find themselves trapped in nightmare scenarios.

Dominique, a well-trained assassin, flees from her troubled past in an attempt to begin a new life in South America. However, she soon finds herself in a town plagued with violence and corruption. Facing brutal attacks from the police and mafia, Dominique must decide whether to protect herself or an innocent family that has taken her in.

A Texas cop battles ex-navy seals who are trying to traffic drugs from Mexico into the USA.

The Thief pulls off the robbery of a lifetime when he robs the psychotic drug lord, Temple. The plan goes off without a hitch until the Thief discovers a stowaway in his getaway car - Temple's pregnant wife, Mia.

After her girlfriend is imprisoned on fraud charges, Chela is forced to face a new reality. Driving for the first time in years, she begins to provide a local taxi service to a group of elderly wealthy ladies. As Chela settles into her new life, she encounters the much younger Angy, forging a fresh and invigorating new connection.

Patricia is a woman who was handed over as payment for her father's debt to the mafia. Her life takes a turn every moment, positioning her each time in a better rank within the mafia.

After accidentally witnessing a mafia hit in the Windy City, gal pals Connie and Carla skip town for L.A., where they go way undercover as singers working the city's dinner theater circuit ... disguised as drag queens. Now, it's not enough that they become big hits on the scene; things get extra-weird when Connie meets Jeff -- a guy she'd like to be a woman with.

Rita, an underrated lawyer working for a large law firm more interested in getting criminals out of jail than bringing them to justice, is hired by the leader of a criminal organization.

A former burlesque dancer turned author discovers a second chance at life and redemption when she risks everything to rescue her young neighbor after he witnesses his parents’ murder. Now on the run from the local crime boss, who happens to be her longtime ex, she makes a desperate attempt to get the boy to safety.

With a renowned plastic surgeon for a mother, Hyun-soo is always surrounded by girls in line for beauty consultations. But her happiness comes to an end as her friends who have received facial surgery from her mother start to commit mysterious suicides by cutting out their faces.

A troubled man runs away to Mexico and is recruited to join a paramilitary group of teens fighting the drug cartels. He proves himself to the group, but questions their motive.

When a little girl is kidnapped by a trafficking ring, they soon find they messed with the wrong child. Her mother, a notorious former gang leader, is close on their trail and will go to any lengths to bring her child home.

An Australian lone wolf's quiet existence is shattered when he learns that the woman he once loved and thought was dead is alive and held captive by ruthless gangsters. Now, to take on this dangerous criminal organization, he must seek out allies and storm into a world of violence to rescue the love of his life in this gritty, modern day violent fairytale.

Sayra, a Honduran teen, hungers for a better life. Her chance for one comes when she is reunited with her long-estranged father, who intends to emigrate to Mexico and then enter the United States. Sayra's life collides with a pair of Mexican gangmembers who have boarded the same American-bound train.

Working-class waitress Slim thought she was entering a life of domestic bliss when she married Mitch, the man of her dreams. After the arrival of their first child, her picture perfect life is shattered when she discovers Mitch's hidden possessive dark side, a controlling and abusive alter ego that can turn trust, love and tranquility into terror. Terrified for her child's safety, Slim flees with her daughter. Relentless in his pursuit and enlisting the aid of lethal henchmen, Mitch continually stalks the prey that was once his family.

Police officer Pipa works on her first big case while simultaneously investigating her boss, who is suspected of murder. The prequel to "Perdida".

A group of criminals kidnap a teenage ballet dancer, the daughter of a notorious gang leader, in order to obtain a ransom of $50 million, but over time, they discover that she is not just an ordinary girl. After the kidnappers begin to diminish, one by one, they discover, to their increasing horror, that they are locked inside with no normal little girl.

Three hooded Eastern-European criminals burst into a home in a Madrid gated community, holding the family hostage in its own home, and forcing the father to empty his credit cards. But the family fights back - brutally.

Mikel will marry Julia, owner of a major jewelry he inherited from his parents. During the party in announcing their commitment, Mikel meets Ari, one of the waitresses catering. The attraction that arises between them will make Mikel is interested in the world of Ari: illegal motor racing. Then, the protagonist of this story decides to leave Julia without knowing the true intentions of the person who has seduced. Ari and her boyfriend, Navas, have hatched a plan to get around Mikel jewelry made with his ex-girlfriend.

Toro (Spanish for "Bull") is a young con man and the right hand of Romano, a powerful mob boss in Torremolinos, Málaga (Andalusia, south to Spain). After Toro decides to leave Romano to get a life free of crime, his last sting fails, resulting one of his brothers dead and he sent to jail. Five years later, Romano realizes that López, Toro's older brother, is robbing him money from his tourism business and he orders to kidnap Diana, López's little daughter, until this one get back the money. Without options, López visits Toro, now a touristic driver with the third grade prison close to get the parole, who only wants to be free to marry his girlfriend Estrella. When Toro accepts to help López and both meet Romano looking for a solution, Toro ends attacking Romano's men and fleeing with Diana, trying to escape from Romano's revenge. But Romano starts a ruthless searching for they three, meanwhile Toro counts the hours to back the prison according to the third grade...

A young drug addict who has lost touch with her rich family hits rock bottom when she sells her new-born baby to child traffickers. She soon regrets her decision and finds the courage and strength to get him back. To do so, she must follow a trail into the woods and find an eerie house where the old lady she met, her albino servant and a girl with a strange gait, all live together. Nothing could have prepared her for the horror she is about to discover.

After taking control of the capital, Nanny's gang prepares for the biggest smuggling action in the history of Poland.

Quim drives around an isolated rural area through a maze of lanes. When he drives into the woods, he gets lost. Trying to find his direction, he suddenly gets shot from the hill. On his escape from gunshots, he meets Bea, an attractive young woman, who apparently is lost as well. Suspicious of each other, they join forces to run away through the forest, unprotected, cold, hunted...

The Black Widow is not dead ... Drug Queen Carmen van Walraven is hiding in Canada and leads an anonymous life there. One evening a colleague is harassed and Carmen helps her. In self-defense, she kills the perpetrator, is arrested and extradited to the Netherlands. While her children are in shock that their mother is still alive, there are also some people who still have to settle something with Carmen. Everyone is again dragged into an emotional rollercoaster. Carmen will now have deal with her past to save her family.

At the age of 17, Griselda Blanco, made her way to the U.S. with a fake passport with her first husband Carlos. Living in Queens with her three sons, Griselda became enticed by the money the drug world offered, and quickly became embroiled with local drug runners. Griselda masterminded the use of beautiful women, the elderly and children as the mules and created false-bottom suitcases to smuggle cocaine from Colombia.

The sought-after images of top model Jennifer adorn magazine covers and billboards worldwide. When alone at a club, she is abducted and incarcerated in a cell with another prisoner. When their captor subjects the two to torture, they commit to escaping the chamber of horrors before they're killed.

After the death of her daughter at the hand of her boyfriend, Marisela Escobedo began to fight for justice not only against the murderer but also against the corrupt Mexican judicial system.

Chronicling one harrowing day in the life of Luciana, a young woman struggling to make ends meet while striving to escape her past. As Luciana’s day unfolds, she is whisked, physically and emotionally, through a series of troublesome, unforeseeable extremes.

Hostage negotiator Alan Bender is called to rescue the president from a kidnapping, only to find himself also mediating to save his wife and marriage.

Two new female police officers struggle to survive a force filled with corrupt superiors and the brutal world of the criminal mafia.

Jang Tae-Young is a popular trouble shooter in the criminal world. He is cold and ambitious. He dreams of building a casino hotel one day. A reporter then goes to Jang Tae-Young.

A counter-terrorism expert takes a job protecting a young heiress. After an attempted kidnapping puts both of their lives in danger, they must flee.

A drug cartel boss is arrested in a raid and coerced into betraying his former accomplices as part of an undercover operation.

Gloria encounters Francisco, a man whose social veneer betrays a truer self burrowed underneath.

Caye is a young prostitute whose family is unaware of her profession. She meets her striking Dominican neighbour Zulema, an illegal immigrant, after she finds her in the bathroom, badly beaten up. They strike up a close friendship unbeknownst to Caye's xenophobic co-workers.

A couple off for a romantic weekend in the mountains are accosted by a biker gang. Alone in the mountains, Brea and John must defend themselves against the gang, who will stop at nothing to protect their secrets.

Maria, an unfortunate young woman, kills her rapist father in self-defense, and is later tried, sentenced, and shipped off to a woman's penitentiary where she and her fellow inmates are subjected to psychological and sexual abuse at the hands of a psychotic lesbian warden.

Two guys who are working for cartels as cleaners get a request to monitor an 11-year-old kidnapped girl, but the situation gets worse when their supervisor gets killed.

A lawyer finds himself in far over his head when he attempts to get involved in drug trafficking.

A young agent leaves everything behind to pose as a member of ETA, risking her life to uncover the terrorists' hideouts in the south of France.

Sosa is a lawyer who haunts hospital waiting rooms hoping to represent the victims of traffic accidents in insurance claims. When he falls in love with ambulance medic Luján, he tries to leave this dark business but the shady law firm that he works for won’t let him off that easily.

Sixteen-year-old Sara's father is a wealthy gangster and has a lot of enemies. Her father makes clear that whoever touches Sara will die and he looks for the right bodyguard to protect her.

This documentary walks the line between fact and fiction, delving into corruption in the Mexican police through the experiences of two officers.

When João goes to Brazil in search of a better life, he meets punk music enthusiast Maria and falls in love with her. But his involvement in the local drug trade makes him the target of a vicious drug lord.

Melissa is an experienced, exemplary prison guard. But a dangerous spiral is set into motion when she transfers to a Corsican jail, where she accepts help and protection from inmate Saveriu to get her bearings. Upon his release, he contacts Melissa expecting to collect.



