Delicious little nuggets of cinema enveloped in half-baked derivative mush (said lovingly).
There're some amazing elements in here that could've made for a great movie had the writing been better - needed a more clearly developed plot + a script that didn't grossly underuse such a stacked cast.
Failed at pretty much everything it was trying to be.
It wanted to be a film about Mexico but didn't film in Mexico, didn't cast Mexicans, didn't accurately portray Mexico (culturally or physically ("Mexico City is definitely too poor to have tall buildings 😢")), and boiled the entire country down to negative stereotypes.
It wanted to be a Spanish language film but didn't use professional translators or hire a cast of fluent speakers.
It wanted to be a film about…
Straight up wanted to die after this one (*compliment*). Had it been an hour longer so it could flesh out the characters and relationships, I think it could've been nominated for Best Picture. Important story, incredible acting (Liyabona Mroqoza especially), stunning cinematography. Managed to shatter me in only 27 minutes.
