The way this movie is filmed is a lot like Larry Clark's Kids--gritty, handheld camera work, with a sort of "real" or documentary feel. The appeal of Vargas is clearly in its voyeuristic indulgence. Every scene feels realistic. None of the dialogue is stale. In fact, many of the characters' names are the same as the actors who play them. It seems clear that the two brothers in the film (Niño and Victor) are probably brothers in real life as well. That realism is Vargas's biggest strength and its biggest weakness, as it makes the characters compelling but the "story" also directionless and anticlimactic (as our own "stories" in real life often are). Good character studies, bad plot construction.