Jesus (Jesus Moises Rodriguez) and teenage Fausto (Rubén Sosa) are two illegal immigrants among many looking for work in Home Depot parking lots and on the side of roads. Today, however, they've been offered a lucrative job: they've been paid and armed with a sawed-off shotgun to invade the home of single mother Karen (Nina Zavarin, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) while her son Trevor (Trevor Glen Campbell) is out with friends. The job does not go smoothly since they are as ambiguous about killing her; however, Karen can only remain passive for so long (and through so much) and the indignities of the day (and every other day) are wearing thin on Jesus and Fausto.

Although not as tense as the above synopsis might imply, LOS BASTARDOS is still an unsettling view with a shockingly violent finale. I have not seen director Amat Escalante's SANGRE, but I would have to say here that Escalante is to an extent aping mentor Carlos Reygadas here in terms of compositions and long takes; and it doesn't always work. The three central characters are never really human enough for Escalante's distanced ovservational approach to work; thus, scenes depicting the soul-crushing daily routines of these characters feel more needlessly expository than thematic. Effective use is made of the bowing distortion of the anamorphic lenses - seemingly chosen for that off-kilter effect than for coverage in the practical locations - and Escalante (who also edited) achieves the film's shocking climactic act almost through sleight-of-hand with a jump cut while our attention is subtly misdirected (misdirected may even be the wrong word since what we are focusing on is just as important an element of the shot). Despite this, one may come out of the pessimistic other side of the film thinking: "well, so what..."