Inspired by true events, La Civil tells the story of Cielo, a mother in search of her daughter, abducted by a criminal cartel in Northern Mexico. The film stars Arcelia Ramirez, Alvaro Guerrero, Ayelén Muzo and Jorge A. Jiménez.

Directed by Belgian-Romanian director Teodora Ana Mihai making her feature debut , La Civil premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Un Certain Regard Prize of Courage.

The film will open in theaters in the US on Friday, March 3 at Film Forum in New York City.

La Civil unfolds with documentary-like precision as it details the human impact of drug cartels in Northern Mexico. Cielo (Arcelia Ramírez, in a galvanizing performance) learns her daughter Laura has been kidnapped when a baby-faced teenager orders her to pay 150,000 pesos if she wants to see Laura again. With no police support, Cielo embarks on her own investigation, peeling back layers of Mexico’s societal corruption in an increasingly desperate effort to save her child.

Watch the trailer for La Civil.