Carla (Mía Maestro) and Martin (Jean Paul Leroux) are a young upper-class couple fresh from a night of dancing and partying when they cross paths with Trece (Carlos Julio Molina), Budu (Pedro Perez) and Niga (Carlos Madera), three men who make their living by kidnapping unwitting young adults to extort quick money from their wealthy parents.

[4] According to critic Ed Gonzalez, the film overall gives a "juvenile inspection of [the] country's moral oblivion", and shows a "pat reduction of [its] machismo".

[5] Another, Elizabeth Weitzman, offers that "the sadism is so gleefully nasty that it overshadows any rational argument",[6] with Luke Y. Thompson adding that "the apparent thesis that poverty justifies such acts doesn't quite wash";[7] the New York Times reviewer opines that "the villains become more human, even sympathetic", in this film with "constant threat of violence and rape" that she does say is "difficult to endure".

[8] Peter Bradshaw for The Guardian wrote that there is "the lingering suspicion that Jakubowicz can neither be fully and sexily callous in the Tarantino style, nor sober enough to attempt a thorough critique of Venezuelan poverty".

[9] There were several controversies,[1][10][11] primarily when the film was not selected to represent Venezuela in the Best Foreign Language category at the Academy Awards, with 1888: El Extraordinario Viaje de Santa Isabel chosen despite being less popular and acclaimed.

How will future Venezuelan artists feel about expressing their opinions when [authorities] want to put us in jail even though we never attacked them, or even spoke ill of them at any time?