Herod's Law
| Herod's Law | |
|---|---|
DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Luis Estrada |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Produced by | Luis Estrada |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Norman Christianson |
| Edited by | Luis Estrada |
| Music by | Santiago Ojeda |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Artecinema, Venevision International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | Mexico |
| Language | Spanish |
Herod's Law (original Spanish title La ley de Herodes) is a 1999 Mexican satirical black comedy political film, directed by Luis Estrada and produced by Bandidos Films. The film is a caricature of corruption in Mexico and the long-ruling PRI party. Notably, it was the first Mexican film to criticize the PRI explicitly by name, which sparked controversy and led to interference from the Mexican government because of it.
It is the first in a series of films directed by Estrada and starring Damián Alcázar satirizing different facets of the Mexican government and civil society - subsequent films include A Wonderful World (2006), Hell (2010), The Perfect Dictatorship (2014), and ¡Que viva México! (2023). Alcázar plays a different main character in each movie and the films are not narratively connected.
The film won the Ariel Award for Best Picture from the Mexican Academy of Film. It was also awarded the Special Jury Prize in Latin American Cinema at the Sundance Film Festival.