Actually season one of a web series, shown in its entirety which is the length of a feature-length film. Alejandra sees her fifteenth birthday celebration, or quinceanera, disrupted by the arrival of a Mexican cartel group, the Del Rios. The reasons for their presence have to do with Alejandra’s father, for reasons that are revealed via flashbacks throughout the episodes. And when I write ‘’disrupted’’, I mean that almost the entirety of the guests and staff are brutally killed by the vicious gang, leaving only Alejandra, her mother, grandmother, and brother alive. Thus begins their quest for revenge.
This is a bloody, fast-paced, crowd-pleasing exploitation action flick, uh, series. The characters are treated with care and the performances credible, with Mia Xitlali as Alejandra giving a great turn as the young girl who quickly becomes a vengeful woman. The violence is brutal but many moments are of the ‘’fuck yeah’’ variety that are meant to be entertaining more than realistic. The structure is made more interesting with its initial use of some non-linear storytelling through the use of multiple flashbacks, which also means we get into the action really quickly before having certain things explained to us a bit later (such as Alejandra’s brother’s role in the events that led to the quinceanera massacre.
The downside is that as it stands, it’s completely open-ended. This being a series it’s understandable since it’s meant to be continued, but the story is far from finished. It’s all leading to a final confrontation that we don’t get to see. Still, if you’re a fan of violent b-movies the likes of which used to make up a big chunk of the ‘’action’’ section of the video/DVD store, you will be served. It’s also straight-faced, with no hint of parody or campiness, but done with a definite love of the genre.