Catherine Hardwicke Wasn’t Surprised by ‘Miss Bala’ Reviews: “A Lot of Reviewers are Men”

Warning: Spoilers for Miss Bala (2019) ahead.

Director Catherine Hardwicke knows critics didn’t like her remake of the 2011 Mexican film, Miss Bala. She anticipated the backlash even before her version—which stars Gina Rodriguez as a Los Angeles make-up artist named Gloria who takes on the Mexican drug cartel—hit theaters in February.

“If you watch the original,” Hardwicke said in a phone call to Decider last week, “the woman [actor Stephanie Sigman] is absolutely passive in every scene. She’s raped, she has a million bad things happen to her, and she never really fights back.”

That was not the movie that Hardwicke—who, though she may be best known for Twilight, has been a much-needed female presence on the filmmaking scene since her 2003 debut, Thirteen—wanted to make. So she and screenwriter Gareth Dunnett-Alcocer gave Miss Bala a makeover, perhaps, she suspects at the cost of critical approval. (The film currently has a 22 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to the original film’s 87 percent.)  “A lot of reviewers are men,” Hardwicke noted. “They seem to be partial to the original.”

The film is now out on digital—available on iTunes, Amazon and other digital streaming platforms—so viewers at home have a chance to decide for themselves what they think. In the meantime, Decider chatted with Hardwicke about making the film, reading those reviews and the director’s upcoming project for SyFy, The Raven Cycle.

DECIDER: Let’s start with the casting of Gina Rodriguez as Gloria—a very different type of role for her coming off of Jane the Virgin. 

CATHERINE HARDWICKE: She’s awesome in Jane the Virgin, but you’re right—totally different. In person she’s very present, very real, very likable—you identify with her right away. And then she can also be very intense, very focused. I realized this is somebody you’d want to take that journey with.

For the role, we wanted to have a strong Latina that had lived in Tijuana before and spoke some level of Spanish. So we reached out to her. One of the things that was central to the story was that issue talks about in the film: “I feel too Mexican to be a gringo, too gringo to be Mexican.” It’s that idea that you’re straddling two cultures, so you never really fit in anywhere. We wanted somebody that could really embody that culture identity issue that’s going on and happening now. [Rodriguez has spoken about] growing up in Chicago and not looking like the other girls in school. I think she really has a feel for this character.

I know you’ve spoken in other interviews about the challenges of shooting in Tijuana, where cartels are a very real, everyday threat. I’m curious, would you do it again?

Oh, yes, I loved shooting in Tijuana! I was probably just trying to tell the exciting story. [Laughs.] I lived there for five months, and I really loved it. There’s all these textures and energy: young new artists, musicians, food trucks, chefs, architects, all doing cutting edge stuff. You feel this energy that’s contagious. I grew up on a border town in South Texas, so I’ve always loved that juxtaposition of two cultures. Of course, Mexico in my mind is the more artistic, ancient culture with all the artists and traditions and everything, so I love all that.

Did the element of danger help you feel more in it?

We were pretty authentic in a lot of ways. Things would happen right near the set. Pretty much everybody you meet had been touched, unfortunately, in some way by violence due to the drug trade, American demand, and of course, American guns. The demand for drugs makes Tijuana the busiest border crossing in the world. You’ve got everything going on there. It’s pretty intense.

The film has been out for a few months now, so if you’re willing to talk spoilers I’d love to get into the ending: Anthony Mackie and Gina Rodriguez head off into the sunset together. What happens next? Is this setting up a sequel?

It’s up to your imagination. In my mind, I imagine all the things she could end up doing. She knows her strength as a makeup artist, but she’s also finding her strength being able to step up and have a voice. She will not accept somebody looking down on her. She’s not passive anymore. She has opportunities. What could she do? Is she actually gonna become a badass agent in the CIA, or is she gonna take that strength that she’s learned and start her own makeup line? I don’t know! I don’t know if there’ll be a sequel, but I like to imagine what she’d do now that she’d found her own personal strength.

Are you ready to film a sequel if the studio gives you a green light?

Oh, hell yeah. I think that character could go anywhere. Even Gina said that she went to Thailand, and people thought she was Thai. If you were gonna become an international spy, a Latina’s a pretty cool jumping off point. [The character is] a makeup artist—with makeup she’d be believable as Middle Eastern, French, or Asian. She could go anywhere and be an awesome international spy.

I imagine some of the Miss Bala reviews weren’t exactly what you wanted to hear. How much stake do you put into that kind of thing?

We kind of knew that there would be backlash, because there was an original movie with the same name. That was a big discussion: Should we change the title? The new writer changed [the story] quite a bit—he reinvented it, updated it. And of course, a lot of reviewers are men, so they seem to be partial to the original. If you watch that film, the woman [actor Stephanie Sigman] is absolutely passive in every scene. She’s raped, she has a million bad things happen to her, and she never really fights back. So I would imagine that the male gaze would like that better. [Laughs.] That [came out] about ten years ago [in 2011]. We showed a woman who did fight back—she uses her wits and intelligence to do something about it. She’s active, not passive. Maybe some male reviewers would rather see the typical “let the woman get raped and just go along with it” approach. I think that says more about the reviewers in my mind.

I do feel like when I watch an action film directed by a woman, the women on the screen feel different than when the film is directed by a man.

Yeah, it’s interesting. When I first got the script, [Gloria] takes the gun at the end and she became like Scarface—just mra-a-a, mowed down everybody in her path.  Gina and I were both like, “That’s not really what a woman would do.” Our goal would be to escape, survive, and free our friend, not just kill as many people as we could for fun of it. Hopefully, most women have more compassion for human life than that.

Agreed! Switching gears: You’re directing an adaptation of The Raven Cycle, a popular fantasy book series by Maggie Stiefvater. Can we get an update on that?

Yes! It’s a series for SYFY. It’s funny the writer, Maggie—who’s awesome as you know, and just so multi-talented, musician, artist, writer, racecar driver—she just turned in a new draft of the pilot. We’re getting notes from the studio in two days. So fingers crossed!

Are you thinking about casting yet?

We-ell, I have. [Laughs.] So yeah, we’re in the super fun parts. In fact, in my office right now I have some beautiful photos of my dream looks for the actors, and dream actors. But I can’t tell you yet!

Not even a hint on the vibes you’re looking for in Adam and Ronan? I’m sure you know those characters mean a lot to the fans.

[Laughs.] Oh yeah. I don’t think I can really say. I think they’d get mad at me if I said something. But fingers crossed, fingers crossed.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

Where to stream Miss Bala