Herod's Law | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

68% Tomatometer 25 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings

In the 1940s, a small Mexican town has lost three mayors within a short span of time because the citizens have assassinated them. A naive janitor (Damián Alcázar) is recruited to become the new mayor, and he believes he will modernize the little town and usher in a reign of peace. But the system corrupts him very quickly, as it is predicated on bribery. Soon, the new mayor takes to abusing his power while associating with an unscrupulous assortment of opportunists, hypocrites and criminals.

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Herod's Law

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Critics Consensus

La Ley de Herodes is a biting - if heavy-handed - political satire about greed and corruption in Mexico, featuring a brilliant performance from Damián Alcázar.

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Critics Reviews

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Herod's Law | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Marrit Ingman Austin Chronicle Rated: 2/5 Oct 4, 2003 Full Review Herod's Law | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Jeff Strickler Minneapolis Star Tribune Alczar, who won the Mexican Oscar for his performance, brings a lot of energy to the role, but it's not enough to counterbalance the film's heavy-handed predictability. Rated: 2/4 Sep 18, 2003 Full Review Herod's Law | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Carla Meyer San Francisco Chronicle Alcazar makes a deft transition from idiot to maniac, serving as an anchor for the broad performances around him. Rated: 2/4 Sep 12, 2003 Full Review Herod's Law | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Greg Muskewitz eFilmCritic.com Rated: 3/5 May 8, 2004 Full Review Herod's Law | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Duane Dudek Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Often heavy-handed and obvious. Rated: 2.5/4 Apr 15, 2004 Full Review Herod's Law | Rotten Tomatoes (6) James Verniere Boston Herald Rated: 3/4 Feb 2, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Fernando Cedillo Esta es una verdadera obra de arte, nos muestra este México de los 50's que era gobernado únicamente por el PRI, por el Circulo Negro, pero nos muestra la cruda realidad de México, los mexicanos y los políticos, vemos como Juan Vargas, priista, es mandado a un pueblito en medio de la nada, porque el anterior Presidente Municipal había muerto, que en realidad lo mataron, pero aquí vemos como este nuevo Presidente Municipal desde un inicio lo que quería era llevar la modernidad y justicia a San Pedro de los Saguaros, pero Juan se da cuenta que iba a ser difícil hacer este cambio y que la misma población de la localidad no aporta en nada para hacer este cambio y en vez de cambiar las cosas y llevar la modernidad y justicia termina corrompido como un político más, corrupto y con abuso de poder, pero lo que yo considero importante es como en esta película nos muestra la realidad o las dos caras de la moneda, ya que vemos que Juan (Presidente Municipal) si tenía la intención de hacer las cosas bien, incluso pide ayuda y consejo a ciudadanos y otros políticos pero se da cuenta que sin la corrupción es imposible gobernar en México, puede que solo sea una película, pero esta muestra la realidad de México y de los mexicanos, al final de cuentas un político no es un ser extraño de la raza humana o que llego por arte de magia a la tierra, un político crece rodeado de la sociedad que va a gobernar y obvio aprende de ahí y cuando llega al poder se da cuenta que por medio de corrupción es la única forma en la que se puede gobernar México. La historia tiene buena narrativa, todos los personajes están bien desarrollados, la escenografía es adecuada al contexto de la película y tiene una trama que le interesa a los mexicanos, porque claro, al mexicano le da risa las desgracias y más si son propias.Lo que podemos concluir es que gracias al PRI tenemos estabilidad institucional, si no hubiera existido el PRI, ahorita todos estamos viviendo entre revolucionaros y caudillos como en 1880 o como en tiempos de la Revolución, ya que vemos que Don Porfirio Díaz nos trajo estabilidad, la estabilidad que estaban deseando y pidiendo a gritos los mexicanos y México, pero al final esta larga duración en el poder no les pareció a todos y solo que se enojaban de este modelo se rebelaron contra el presidente Porfirio, al final ninguno de los tres que se rebelaron contra Porfirio ganó, de hecho eso esta explicado en el primer párrafo de la actual constitución de México y un par de gobiernos y presidentes después vemos como el PNR llego a darle a México y a los mexicanos lo que necesitaban, una estabilidad institucional que fuera regida como monarquía, explicado en el libro El Círculo Negro de Antonio Velasco Piña.Yo considero que esta es una película que todo mexicano debería de ver una vez en su vida. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/26/23 Full Review Audience Member What can I say .I enjoyed watching this Netflix clip with my family, you should watch it too. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Es una excelente película mexicana; la trama es muy buena, la sátira política está bien hecha y actuación de Damián Alcázar es excelente; es muy recomendable. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie only can be trully understanded by mexicans. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Whereas the film has a powerful and important message to relay, there is so much superfluous story that the message becomes diminished in the silliness. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Herod's Law translates into "La Ley de Herodes" which is a proverb people say frequently in politics, meaning that you're forced to do something you don't want to, but you have to do it anyways for your own good. I came in expecting something simple and boring, but I was in for a fun mexican movie about cynicism and politics.This movie presents mexicans as lazy people and having lived here for most of my life I've become a bit lazy too so I'm just going to copy/paste the imdb synopsis: Mexico, 1949. The fable of a janitor turned Mayor on a little town lost in the Mexican desert, who gradually realizes how far his new acquainted power and corruption can get him.Similar to director Luis Estrada's previous work, "El Infierno", expect to see a satiric view on mexican politics, its pretty hilarious. It's not only what I now recognize as one of the greatest, but also an important film in Mexico for how it helped Mexican people vote for the other political party (PAN) instead of PRI, members of which had all been presidents since 1929.Here's some other information about it I got off imdb: The movie release was forbidden for several years. Since filming started, the Mexican government wasn't very happy about it; mainly because it showed a bad image of that administration. Filmmakers fought back. This reached the press so the movie had to be released to avoid rumors about political censorship and released it just before the 2000 presidential elections.I wish I had it seen it earlier, I now admire it as one of the best mexican movies ever made. I think its on par with movies like "Casino", not only for its great dark comedy and cinematography, but for its story about people living for themselves and ending up losing it all. It might be hard to find, but I couldn't recommend this and Luis Estrada's more recent work "El Infierno" any more. The acting and cinematography are also amazing.I'd recommend it to anyone who liked "Goodfellas", "Y Tu Mama Tambien", "Capitalism: A Love Story", "The Big Lebowski", "The Hangover", "Office Space", and "Bad Lieutenant". Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Luis Estrada Director Damián Alcázar Juan Vargas Pedro Armendáriz Jr. Lopez Delia Casanova Rosa Juan Carlos Colombo Ramirez Alex Cox Gringo
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Herod's Law

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Synopsis In the 1940s, a small Mexican town has lost three mayors within a short span of time because the citizens have assassinated them. A naive janitor (Damián Alcázar) is recruited to become the new mayor, and he believes he will modernize the little town and usher in a reign of peace. But the system corrupts him very quickly, as it is predicated on bribery. Soon, the new mayor takes to abusing his power while associating with an unscrupulous assortment of opportunists, hypocrites and criminals.

Director
Luis Estrada

Producer
Luis Estrada

Screenwriter
Luis Estrada, Vincente Leñero, Fernando Javier Léon Rodríguez, Jaime Sampietro

Distributor
Artecinema, Venevision International [us]

Production Co
Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía, Altavista Films, Nu Vision, Bandidos Films

Rating
R

Genre
Comedy

Original Language
Spanish

Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 4, 2000, Wide

Runtime
2h 0m

Sound Mix
Dolby Digital, Surround
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