Review: Mexican thriller 'New Order' is compelling, brutal, and probably not something you'd want to watch twice

The Mexican thriller “New Order” is an electrifying, unsettling cautionary tale about the dangers of flaunting obscene wealth, and the dangers of revolting against it.

It’s also one of those movies, like “Requiem for a Dream” or “Irreversible,” that is at once beautifully constructed and brutally disturbing — a movie you might praise for its artistry, but never want to sit through again.

Director Michel Franco depicts a violent rebellion happening in Mexico City. Initially, Franco doesn’t show us the action in the streets, but we hear it faintly in the distance from inside the home of the super-rich Novelo family. Their daughter, Marianne (Naian González Norvind), is getting married to Alan (Dario Yazbek Bernal) — and all the family’s rich friends and business acquaintances are there for the happy day. Soon, though, they are also targets.

When the revolution gets inside the gates, and people from the streets start robbing wedding guests and killing family members, Marianne has already left the scene. She went with Cristian (Fernando Cuautle), one of the family’s servants, to find Rolando (Eligio Meléndez), a former family employee who came seeking money to pay for his wife’s heart operation. Marianne gets caught up in the mayhem, but Cristian and his mother, Marta (Mónica Del Carmen), the Novelos’ longtime maid, shelter her in their house until the military quells the insurrection.

The Novelos know some big names in the Mexican military — but that doesn’t help Marianne when, in the aftermath of the failed revolution, soldiers start taking rich people hostage. As time passes, Marianne’s brother, Daniel (Diego Boneta), grows desperate to find Marianne, and grows suspicious of anyone relaying a ransom demand.

Franco, as write and director, starts strong as he shows the 1 percent inexorably realizing the cold horror that they can’t buy their way out of revolution. When the movie takes its turn in the second half, Franco’s cynical depiction of the restoration of order — and a military that’s corrupt at every level — is as painful as it is compelling.

Marianne’s ordeal, and González Norvind’s riveting performance, are powerful, though an endurance test for audiences. Those scenes, and the nihilistic aftermath, are fascinating to watch once, but it’s hard to imagine wanting to repeat the experience.

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‘New Order’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, May 21, at the Megaplex Valley Fair (West Valley City), Century 16 (South Salt Lake), and Cinemark Jordan Landing (West Jordan). Rated R for disturbing and violent content, rape, graphic nudity, and language. Running time: 86 minutes; in Spanish, with subtitles.