This is a compelling and at times riveting film. As other reviewers have pointed out, it is very much like an earlier film, "Sin Nombre," in depicting the violence and ruthlessness of the Mexican gangs. It also contains a brilliant performance by Greisy Mena as the title character. The film presents a very sympathetic portrait of a very young woman trying to survive in a brutal society, resorting to prostitution while desperately wanting to get out of that life at the same time.Having said that, the film is marred by a screenplay that is confusing and at times incoherent. For example, it becomes very obvious early on that she lives in one Latin American country and wants to get to another, permanently. We soon learn that the country she wants to get to is Mexico, but it takes a while to learn that the country she is coming from is Guatemala. Why? Because to get from her country to Mexico requires a boat ride across a river, and the only Spanish-speaking country that borders Mexico is Guatemala. This is later confirmed when we see "Guatemala" on a soldier's uniform. However, one of the immigration officials says she is from Honduras, and she herself says she is from Panama, although this is clearly a lie. Also, it is never exactly clear which country she is in at different times.Further complicating the plot is a subplot involving the Mexican police, working under a corrupt general, who are involved in what appears to be an operation smuggling drugs into Mexico. It is unclear whether the police are in cahoots with the gang with respect to the smuggling. At first it appears that they are, but then the gang members turn on the police and kill one of the policemen. It also appears that there are a couple of Americans, one of whom rapes Sabina, working with the corrupt Mexican police. But why? Why do the Mexicans need them? This never becomes clear.Finally, even the title of the film becomes confusing. Why "la vida precoz y breve?" Sabina is still alive at the end of the film, so how do we know that her life will be short? Maybe she'll live to be 90. And I didn't see anything especially precocious about her life either.In short, the film is worth seeing, noting the above reservations.

According to the cover I did not expect a serious movie, but the overall good rating made me curious. I was not disappointed.What really shines bright above all good things in this movie is its main lead: Greisy Mena. She did a fantastic job and her character was very believable. I was really touched by her performance.I really disliked her nudity-scenes though. These didn't add anything and were just there to keep males watching :-) Totally misplaced in my eyes.A slight problem one could have with this movie is that if you're not from that area or you're not having a slight insight you may have a hard time believing the things that happens in this movie. You may think the portrayed MS were just a small bunch of lowlifes or there were only a handful of corrupt policemen. You may really end up asking yourself what all this fuss is about. Call the "real" cops and the job's done. Sure, to all around that area this might be nothing new and totally obvious, but all foreigners may have a harder time believing it.The title in Germany is "Sine Nombre - Life without hope" and it pretty fits. No hope everywhere you look at, but still Sabina always maintains an inch of hope and optimism, smiling at the smallest things that are not thaaaaaat bad. The more she does that, the more you want to punch everyone else on the screen in the face. Repeatedly.Long story short: If you can "enjoy" a movie where things are not perfect-world-harmony-happiness then you're in for a ride. Go watch this! It's of the same technical quality as "Tropa de elite" but with less focus on action and more focus on feelings and the message of keeping hope in a hopeless world. Optimism.It's a real shame one has to look for movies like that like the needle in the haystack. I just stumbled over it by accident. And it even had the same name ("Sine Nombre") as another movie I've already seen that was also about the Maras. Nearly skipped it because of that.

This is a good movie . The interpretation on Sabina by the Colombian actress , is superb. But the part of the movie related to the M 13 gangs is almost a copy of another movie "SIN NOMBRE". Also the writer or the producers, add to the movie a plot that depict the abuse of immigrants in Mexico, like a responsibility and committed by the US government and officers. In the other hand depict the abuse of immigrants from Mexican authorities, like something that has more to do with cultural behavior than a humans right violations. This is a sad twist on the movie to portray a bias in the real Mexican inferno of immigrants in their journey to USA.

What a great and intense drama in the vein of SIN NOMBRE. The acting is powerful and the storytelling understands to create some deep emotions. The pacing of the movie is very slow after all, but this is a real strength of the movie. The audience gets the time to find his way in the sad world of the main character. Greisy Mena delivers a great and natural performance - I think she deserve an Oscar for that. The influence of the MS 13, the most dangerous Latino gang of the world, is also a big topic of the movie. When you get the chance to see this movie, do it without doubt. I love this movie - it's a masterpiece of his own. Everybody how is interest about the topic of gang