Ernesto Gómez Cruz

In a modern day fairy tale, Rowan ventures into mysterious darkness that contains dangerous creatures to save her family from the clutches of the evil Dr. Ravenen.

The minister of Economy gives a house, a car and job to a man who tried to jump from a building because of his poverty; soon, every poor tries the same strategy. Once upon a time, Juan Pérez, the poorest of the poor, reaches fame in a fluke accident in what seemed to be an attempt of suicide, to protest against the government and his social condition. The Ministry of Economy, surrounded by the scandal in which he is blamed by Pérez's decision, decides to reward him changing his life giving him a little house, a car and a job. But when other poor people (Pérez's close friends) find out about his reversal of fortune, decide to imitate him faking suicide attempts in different buildings in Mexico City. The Ministry of Economy, terrified by the glance of having a plague of beggars, decides to declare poverty a crime and hence finish for once and for all with all the poor in the country. Pérez ends up behind bars. Three years later, Pérez is released and goes back to his previous social condition, but this time, aware of having one day as a rich man is better than a life as poor, he will do anything to get out of his misery... And he will manage to do so! —Juan pérez

A hilarious attack on the ruling party (the PRI, previously known as PNR and PRM) in 1949, during the reign of President Miguel Alemán (1946-1952) and filmed in sepia tones reminiscent of that area. So harsh, in fact, that the government of Mexico -- still in the hands of the PRI in 1999 -- successfully blocked release for some time. The people of a village, where few residents speak Spanish and the school is in ruins, kill the local mayor. The state governor (Pedro Almendáriz) looks for a satisfactory replacement and chooses a garbage collector from another town, Juan Vargas (Damián Alcázar), simply because he is known to be a loyal party member. Vargas takes the job seriously, but a local madam, Doña Lupe (Isela Vargas) and a corrupt priest soon teach him that "anything goes in politics" and Vargas is soon inventing laws and taxes of his own. There are many authentic touches. Vargas car is an antique Packard -- the traditional status car of Mexican politicians during the thirties and forties. The name of the village, de los Aguados, means thin, watered down, melted. The only educated man is the local doctor, who is a member of the PAN (Partido de Acción Nacional) which now governs much of northern México and holded the presidency from 2000 to 2012. The ending is a bitter surprise which gives real meaning to the title, "La Ley de Herodes" which is defined in the film as "o te chingas o te jodes" which might be loosely translated as "you get fucked or you get screwed".