The director told journalists this film is inspired by his own memories, fantasies, and dreams. Reygadas’s vision seems to be that we all inhabit the same moral plane—rich and poor, dark skinned and light skinned. Life meanders (just like the movie), with moments of peace and beauty, and punching acts of random cruelty and violence. No one type of person seems closer to enlightenment than any other.

However, the movie completely failed to pull me in. Non-literal and impressionistic art…

I was fully expecting to hate this since I don't even enjoy musicals generally, but I quite liked it. This is setting aside comments made by the director and the lead actress, and watching it with the understanding that the film's intention is not to teach me about Mexico and various political and social situations, but rather to portray the journey and development of a few women. I did find some of the accents / non-native Spanish to be jarring.…