Overview
A gripping journey of hope and desperation unfolds as a young girl seeks a better life.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- harrowing
- tense
- compassionate
- serious movie night
- social issue film discussion
What critics said
Critics broadly praised Cary Fukunaga's debut as a sensitive, insightful, deeply authentic, and harrowing fusion of immigration drama and gangster thriller.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Sayra travels from Honduras through Mexico toward the United States, confronting criminal violence and precarious transportation.
El Casper, Lil' Mago, and El Smiley are embedded in MS-13 culture, with loyalty and betrayal driving the criminal plot.
The migrants' passage atop freight trains makes bodily exposure, distance, and danger central to the film's visual language.
The story links Honduran poverty, Mexican gang territory, and the dream of reaching the United States.
Films like Sin Nombre, and why
The Motorcycle Diaries
shared harrowing migration journey, social realism, border violence, and emotionally intimate drama
City of God
shared Latin American crime drama, gang violence, moral compromise, and grounded handheld realism
In This World
shared illegal immigration, perilous travel, institutional violence, and compassionate social-realist perspective
Sin La Habana
shared tense border-crossing narrative, stark realism, and human vulnerability amid criminal exploitation
Movie Details
- Director
- Cary Joji Fukunaga
- Release Date
- 2009-03-20
- Runtime
- 96 min
- Rating
- 7.6 / 10 (806)
Cast
- Paulina Gaitán
- Edgar Flores
- Kristyan Ferrer
- Tenoch Huerta Mejía
- Gerardo Taracena
- Memo Villegas
- Luis Fernando Peña
- Diana García
- Gabino Rodríguez
- Héctor Jiménez
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Sin Nombre about?
- A Honduran teenager's dangerous passage through Mexico collides with the violent escape of a former gang member.
- What is Sin Nombre like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Sin Nombre as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Sin Nombre violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Sin Nombre as graphic.
- What did critics think of Sin Nombre?
- Critics broadly praised Cary Fukunaga's debut as a sensitive, insightful, deeply authentic, and harrowing fusion of immigration drama and gangster thriller.
- Which films are like Sin Nombre?
- Films with a similar feel include The Motorcycle Diaries, City of God, In This World, and Sin La Habana.
- How long is Sin Nombre?
- Sin Nombre runs 96 minutes.
- Where can I watch Sin Nombre?
- In United States, Sin Nombre is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
