Sin Nombre
features two lives meeting by chance on a train with more in common than they think. Willy, aka El Casper (Édgar Flores),
is part of La Mara, one of a number of Mexican gangs with egos bigger than their brain cells, always out to kill "chavalas",
aka their rivals, and stop them from intruding on their turf.
Early on, we see him indoctrinating a young lad, Smiley (Kristian Ferrer) into the gang by taking him to
the leader so he can shoot his first chavala, which will get him in with the in-crowd. That said, Casper has his
issues with them - not least because their leader, Lil Mago (Tenoch Huerta, below-right with 'Casper'), tried
to rape his girlfriend, but also because he's deeply unpleasant in lots of ways, including jumping the immigrant train
out of Mexico and stealing off those trying to escape for a better life.
Casper, himself, escapes from the leader in a way you'll have to watch the film to find out, but which causes the
gang to start coming for him. Either way, he wants out. Out of the gang and out of Mexico.
Someone else who wants out of Mexico is Sayra (Paulina Gaitan, right with 'Casper'), who's trying to escape to New Jersey with her
family. Their lives cross in a way which, to reveal here, would be a big spoiler, but from that it turns into
a road movie. Will Sayra and her family get to their destination? Will Casper manage to get away from his pursuers?
Well, I won't say, obviously, but I was very disappointed with this film. There didn't seem to be a massive amount
of story to it, other than boy and girl meet in bizarre circumstances and the minutae of what happens to them which has
a threadbare storyline, so in the end I just did not care.
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