Bleak Street

Revered Mexican director Arturo Ripstein trawls the alleys and byways of the downtrodden in this oddball dramatization of a true crime committed in 2009. Adela (Nora Velázquez), an aging prostitute, is finding it difficult to land johns now that her looks and street status are fading, a downturn in luck that leaves her and her despondent ailing mother (Lety Gómez) with barely enough money for food. Fellow hooker Dora (Patricia Reyes Spíndola) also faces financial and other troubles, with her mouthy daughter (Greta Cervantes) demanding a cell phone and her closeted husband (Alejandro Suarez) secretly dressing in Dora's “work clothes” and sneaking around with strapping young men. Into this already-eclectic fray enters a pair of “Lilliputian luchadores” (Juan Francisco Longoria and Guillermo Lopez), identical midget brothers who perform as “shadows” to their full-sized partners in the ring. The brothers' fame and notoriety attract the attentions of the desperate Adela and Dora, who together conspire to pull an old whoring trick on the masked fighters by seducing them and then knocking them unconscious with a roofie of eye drop solution in order to make off with their cash. The ploy proves a little too successful as the toxic dosage ends up killing the brothers and sets the entire city on the trail of the murderous hookers. While the material may sound highly sensationalistic and exploitative, Ripstein—aided greatly by the stark, beautiful black-and-white cinematography of Alejandro Cantú—maintains a quiet, introspective demeanor. A surprisingly touching film, this is recommended. (J. Cruz)