''Baja'' is a 2018 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed and written by Tony Vidal, and starring

Jake Thomas Jake Thomas (born January 30, 1990) is an American actor and director, perhaps best known for his role as Matt McGuire, the title character's younger brother, in the Disney Channel show ''Lizzie McGuire'' (2001–04). In 2002, he won a Young Ar ...

Chris Brochu Chris Brochu (born June 25, 1989) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He was born in Washington, D.C., the older brother of Doug Brochu. He is best known as Luke Parker in ''The Vampire Diaries'' and also played Ray in ''Lemonade Mouth' ...

, Michelle DeShon, Arienne Mandi and Zoe Corraface.

Premise

During Christmas break, four 22 year-olds on a Mexican road trip seem bound for trouble until they, and their trip, are unexpectedly redeemed by a series of miraculous events.

Cast

as Bryan Johnson *

as Todd Meyer * Michelle DeShon as Jessica Francis *

Arienne Mandi Arienne Mandi is an American actress best known for playing the lead character Dani Núñez in '' The L Word: Generation Q''. She has played minor roles in ''Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Agent X ( ...

as Lisa Bolanos / Lorena De Los Rios * Zoe Corraface as Carmen *

Mark Margolis Mark Margolis (; born November 26, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alberto "The Shadow" in '' Scarface'', Antonio Nappa in '' Oz'', and Hector Salamanca in '' Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul''. His performance in ''Break ...

as Don Primo *

Cynthia Stevenson Cynthia Stevenson (born August 2, 1962) is an American actress. She first played a leading role in the syndicated parody comedy series ''My Talk Show'' (1990–91), before starring in a number of sitcoms, including ''Bob'' (CBS, 1992–93), ''H ...

as Josey Johnson *

Kurt Fuller Kurt Fuller (born September 16, 1953) is an American character actor. He has appeared in a number of television, film, and stage projects. He is best known for his roles in the films ''No Holds Barred'' and ''Ghostbusters II'' (both 1989), ''Way ...

as Hal Johnson *

José Zúñiga José Zúñiga (born April 1, 1965) is a Honduran-American actor.José Zúñiga profile
filmrefere ...

as Luis Bolanos *

Jason Spisak Jason Spisak () is an American voice actor, producer, and computer programmer in animation and video games, and producer and founding member of Blackchalk Productions. He is also the co-leader of the Symphony OS Project and the designer of Symphon ...

as Burnout * Andres Londono as Jorge Ramirez * Toktam Aboozary as Madam

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place throughout

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, including Loreto,

Rosarito Beach Rosarito is a coastal city in Playas de Rosarito Municipality, Baja California, situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. As of 2010, the city had a population of 65,278. Located south of the US-Mexico border, Rosarito is a part of the greater S ...

, Ensenada and

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

Release

''Baja'' was released in North America via

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on April 13, 2018.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews, and an average rating of . Noel Murray of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called the film a "vacation for the mind." Conversely, David Lewis from the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' gave the film one out of four stars, noting its lack of inspiration.

References

External links

* * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, baja_2018 2018 independent films American independent films American buddy comedy films Films set in Mexico Films shot in Mexico Films shot in Tijuana American comedy road movies 2010s comedy road movies 2018 films 2010s buddy comedy films 2018 comedy films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films