In Sin Nombre, Sayra (Paulina Gaiton) and El Casper (Edward M. Flores) join forces to battle the ever present and far reaching hand of the Mexican gangs. First and foremost, this is a film about gang violence. On a secondary level are the subplots of child abuse and the corruption of youth as told through the eyes of Benito (Smiley).

Third, however, is the theme of immigration to the United States and what the promise of this dream means for Sayra, the members of her entourage (her father and her uncle), and for El Casper. Beautifully filmed by Adriana Goldman as well as well directed by Cary Joli Fukunaga, who also wrote the brilliant script, as we watch the story of El Casper’s involvement in a gang called El Mara, Fukunaga contrasts Sayra’s journey with her father and her uncle across the Latin American Countryside from Honduras to The Mexican Border.

Although the film uses subtitles which are displayed too rapidly to read in some instances,uses frequent obscene language, and extreme violence is depicted (rape, murder, mutilations, armed robbery, and savage beatings) Sin Nombre is a first-class film worthy of the honors bestowed upon it thus far.