I'm No Longer Here

Excellent movie about a group of youngsters in a poor neighbourhood in Mexico lose themselves in Cumbia music. They design a counter culture and even with little or no money they express themselves in a street style that would be looked on in awe by peers in cities around the world.

The movie tells the story of friendship and youth and when a tragedy occurs how quickly things can change for the worse. This movie show the similarities in youth culture where they are subjected to ridicule, aggression, ostracised but even with all that their street cool is a massive attraction. If you look at history the eidelweiss pirates who were into jazz and fought the hitler youth in Germany or the working class English kids from north of England who danced to soul music they all have links irrespective of the country or time period.

Using authentic kids in the casting brought a real life element to this movie and it was believable and interesting to follow the twists and turns of one kid trying to get by and keeps getting knocked down, however music was always there as an escapism for him. Highly recommended.

... even one called home; life in Monterrey becomes untenable for a young gang lead, stranded in deep water, unable to fight the tide, washed up in New York where the currents repel - all played out to an original soundtrack of Cumbia Rebajada and the passion for expression, identity and dance.

The story beautiful and depressing. It revolves around a group of friends that love to dance and straight up VIBE. Though they are trouble makers, they would never actually do any harm. It conveys the hardships of growing up in a country where corruption is high and gang involvement being extremely prevalent in poor neighborhoods. The acting was phenomenal. It goes back and forth through a timeline of past and present which is so gorgeously executed. You feel the complete loneliness and utter frustration that Ulises feels when coming to a foreign country. It leaves you mourning for a group of friends that you never had before. It leaves you wishing the world wasn't so crazy. It leaves you astonished. WATCH IT! PLEASE!!!

As a middle class mexican from the northwest of the country, the Monterrey cholombiano subculture is not one that I'm too familiar with (remember Mexico is huge and diverse). This movie was captivating and entertaining, and it made me wonder what would happen to the protagonist. According to experts, this movie did an accurate ethnographic depiction of the cholombianos, which is something to applaud. I really liked the fact that the story felt 100 % real, it didn't focus the lens on the violence or on romanticising the struggles of the protagonist. So don't expect a fast-paced/ultra violent narcos-style movie. Without being a documentary I feel I learned a lot about this urban tribe, their values like loyalty, and their amazing dance, you won't regret it!

Just happened to come across this on Netflix & what caught my eye was the dancing. As an independent filmmaker, I liked how this was put together. Good film!