Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
In 1970s Mexico City, two domestic workers help a mother of four while her husband is away for an extended period of time.
Alfonso Cuarón's deeply personal, semi-autobiographical meditation on class, gender, and memory in 1970s Mexico City is a singular cinematic achievement. The long-take, wide-screen black-and-white photography is breathtaking and immediately distinctive — among the finest cinematography of the decade. Yalitza Aparicio's raw, naturalistic performance as Cleo is extraordinary for a non-professional actress. The film's novelty lies in its quiet, observational approach and its unflinching focus on a domestic worker's interiority, rarely depicted with such dignity. The plot is deliberately episodic and elliptical rather than conventionally driven, which some find meditative and others find meandering. The ending, while emotionally resonant, retreats somewhat to a more familiar note of quiet endurance after the extraordinary beach sequence, keeping it from being truly revelatory.