Solid production for a ‘straight-forward’ B-movie.

Deliberate pacing, colour-grading and stripped-back sound design imbue this three-pronged drug tale with a straight-laced identity that is distinct from its gorier film counterparts. Meanwhile, strong naturalistic performances further ground a story which ultimately attempts the great feat of resolving the vast, cross-border scale of the international drugs trade with the devastating theatre that addiction plays out on the individual level - that Traffic generally accomplishes these goals without excessive gore or fanfare is noteworthy, even though it arguably loses punch value that may allow its peers to stick in the mind of audiences for a longer stretch.

Engaging, infuriating, thought-provoking - what does it mean to be successful, what is love worth, how do we balance our sins… or should we simply let them go?

Set-up without payoff. The film spends too long ‘building mystery’ around the ensemble cast and, when revealed, the horrible truth lacks punch because the film and script invests meagre resources to build the characters up as ones whose fate the audience should care for.