Chicuarotes

Nice work, good production, the movie shows the reality about the worst situations in mexico city, but the way that gael garcia show to us these problems and the situations with the caratchers we can see a realy good movie with some tiny problems, that show to us, how is the space and the situations that happens everyday in those towns in mexico city.

A good movie, with a dramatic plot and excellent performances; I recommend it.

The movie will keep you interested from the beginning to the end, it shows the reality of many people in México and what they have to go through everyday (crime, violence, etc). It will make you laugh several times and also drop some tears.

Skimming through the reviews, I noticed that a common critic consists on portraying the characters as "too dumb". Unfortunately, the representation is accurate and many people in CDMX (as in any city in which ignorance and poverty prevail) do think in such primary ways. The movie is built on a metaphor: axolotls ("water monster" in nahuatl, prehispanic tongue) which are salamanders endemic to CDMX that never fully develop and remain tadpoles, even as adults, for the rest of their lives. Axolotls are often seen throughout the movie: (a) inside the fishbowl of the main character's (Cagalera) girlfriend, and (b) outside the canteen, as graphity, before Cagalera enters the canteen and is beaten by his "dad". Some say we Mexicans are like axolotls: we have the potential to develop and finally mature as a nation, but never achieve to do so. Just like axolotls, we perpetually stay behind our true potential. We are no more than perpetual tadpoles. The movie tries to address this issue. As long as ignorance, violence, retaliation, machismo, homophobia, and similar problems portrayed in the movie prevail, no progress will be ever achieved.

I think it is the harsh reality of the Mexico that currently exists, the things that happen in this movie have really happened in the country, and it is a slight adaptation of it.