Herod's Law

Herod's Law is set in 1949 in a small Mexican town where the previous mayors have met violent ends. Juan Vargas, a naive janitor and party loyalist, is installed as interim mayor. He arrives intending to improve the town, but limited resources and the advice of his party superiors soon push him toward a different path, and he learns how quickly power and corruption can change a man. The film follows his gradual transformation as he deals with an assortment of opportunists and self-interested figures around him.

Luis Estrada directed and produced the film, his second feature after Amber, released five years earlier in 1994. The screenplay is credited to Vicente Leñero, Estrada and Jaime Sampietro. Damián Alcázar leads the cast as Juan Vargas, with Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Salvador Sánchez, Isela Vega, Juan Carlos Colombo and Delia Casanova in supporting roles. The production involved Mexican film institutions and companies including the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía and Bandidos Films.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7.8 from roughly 7,800 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 8 out of 10 from 211 votes, indicating strong approval from audiences on both platforms. A critics' rating of 6.2 from 25 reviews is noticeably lower than those audience scores. Released in November 1999 and running 123 minutes, the film blends comedy, crime, drama and mystery.