Julio Hernández Cordón—whose features have all played our Festival, and whose Marimbas from Hell won our Knight Ibero-American competition Grand Jury Prize—returns to Miami with his latest and most accomplished work to date. I Promise You Anarchy fuses the terrifying realities of Mexico’s ubiquitous underworld with a fascinating story of young men in love.

Miguel and Johnny are young lovers and skateboarders who ride alongside their friends through Mexico City’s labyrinth of streets and overpasses. Miguel earns money selling human blood on the black market, with paramedics as his most dependable clients. Then one day Miguel gets a hot tip: some wounded drug-traffickers are willing to pay big money for urgently needed blood. Miguel enlists Johnny’s help, anticipating a big windfall that he dreams will enable both of them to get away for good, away from the girls and the drugs that continually frustrate Miguel’s romantic love for Johnny. The boys start working towards fulfilling the massive order, assembling family, friends and strangers—until their plan goes horrifyingly wrong.

Hernández Cordón shrewdly captures the film’s most disturbing scenes with a cool, distant gaze, while elsewhere he infuses candid scenes of sex and affection with a quiet sensuality. I Promise You Anarchy promises to stay with you long after it reaches its touching conclusion. – Andres Castillo

I Promise You Anarchy is also part of the Lexus Ibero American Feature Film Competition.