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José Novoa's Devil Gold purports to be a social exposé, but while the film does draw attention to the problems associated with gold mining in the Amazon jungle, its crudeness makes it difficult to see it as more than a sleazily effective exploitation film. With its cheesy horror movie score and obvious, soap opera-level plotting, the film fails to achieve its loftier ambitions. The acting is uneven, but the two leads, Rocío Miranda as Isabel and Laureano Olivares as Cae, are effective and appealing. There are a few glimpses of humanity under the crude surfaces in the film, especially in the more complex treatment of Gallego (Armando Gota), a mine owner who exploits the townspeople but demonstrates his essential humanity through his grief over his son's death and his redemptive sale of the mine at the film's end. The film initially seems like it will end with a happy cliché, but it is commendably ambiguous about the future. There's also an interesting element of reflexivity in the character of Fellini (Alberto Rowinsky), a charismatic mercury dealer who also peddles celluloid dreams when he visits the hellhole of Payapal. Novoa and screenwriter Sonia Chocrón may have used documentary techniques in gathering background for Devil Gold, but for the most part, familiar cinematic tropes overwhelm the film's tenuous grasp on reality.