This piece explores the aesthetic and ethical implications of adapting real life violence into onscreen text, particularly when depicting killings “South of the border”. The article draws from the theoretical concept of affect (as framed in Aldana-Reyes’ recent work on horror cinema, as well as Brinkema’s The Forms of the Affects) and scholarship on leaked torture photographs (focusing on the Abu Ghraib scandal). The article compares and analyses the ways in which violated and mutilated bodies from this conflict are then depicted in scenes from two Hollywood productions – the TV show Breaking Bad (created by Vince Gillian, 2008-2013) and Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario (2015) –, and in Mexican director Amat Escalante’s Heli (Best Director, Cannes 2013). This article offers an overview of the highly mediatized nature of the current phase of the Mexican narco wars, highlighting the existence of explicit videos released online by the cartels, which show executions and beheadings in gory detail.
