Review of Roma (2018) by Michael O — 23 Nov 2018

This is hands down the best picture from this year so far. I had very high expectations leading up to the Telluride Film Festival and it more than met and surpassed it. It's a hark back to Fellini, a blend of fantasy and reality, to a place in time.

For Alfonso, this is an incredibly personal story from his youth, about a woman who helped raise him in a town called Roma in Mexico City. Shot in gorgeous digital black and white, this film shows the journey of Cleo, an indigenous women who brings stability to a family in turmoil, but also has struggles of her own in a society going through change.

It shows the blend and struggle between the social classes, the political struggle, and family struggle all under one roof, one town, one place in time. There are too many scenes that stand out in this film to highlight any one moment.

I was left with images of a man singing while a forest fire comes near town, of images of a person driving and scraping their cars across the garage, of images of a plane flying across the sky seen in a puddle of water after a rainstorm, of images and sounds of waves crashing while Cleo disappears off screen, of images of a revolution as the camera pans up and over from a clothing store and out into the streets filled with violence.

This is simply a cinematic experience that's hard to describe with words. What I was left with after the film were images and sounds that I could not shake for days. I felt for Cleo, I cried for Cleo, I smiled for Cleo, and I hoped for Cleo.

In the end, isn't that what film is supposed to do? If Alfonso's goal was to share a personal story in a place and time to move us, he's created a masterpiece. One that is simply the best picture of the year.

There's Roma and then there's a big gap between all others. Alfonso will soon be joining his brotherhood of Directors from Mexico who have won Oscars, Alejandro and Guillermo. And the Oscar goes to!