Staying Fit
Gael Garcia Bernal in "Cassandro."
Amazon Prime Video
It’s always a good time to watch terrific films focused on fascinating Mexicans and Mexican Americans, but May 5, Cinco de Mayo — a holiday commemorating the smaller, scrappier Mexican army’s 1862 victory over the mighty French empire — is the best. In that triumphal spirit, here are five terrific films focused on fascinating Mexicans and Mexican Americans. These cinco para el cinco are streaming now.
Totem (2023)
It’s impossible not to be captivated by all that unspools in this soulful and impeccably textured masterwork by director Lila Aviles, whose first feature was 2018’s excellent The Chambermaid. With her intimate approach and sharp eye for detail, Aviles sets her ensemble piece over the course of a single chaotic day. Watchful 7-year-old Sol (Naima Senties) tries to make sense of everything going on, especially at her father’s surprise birthday party attended by her loving, multigenerational family. The result is a vibrant and luminous portrait of love and grief. Even when it deals with death, it pulses with life-affirming joy.
Watch it: on Prime Video
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Cassandro (2023)
You can just imagine the pitch meeting. Veteran documentarian Roger Ross Williams (The 1619 Project) sells his concept to the studio thus: “Think the Liberace of Lucha Libre [Mexican wrestling].” But there’s more. In one of the best performances in an impressive career, Gael Garcia Bernal plays Saul Armendariz, a gay amateur wrestler who triumphs as a trailblazer in the macho wrestling world, and in the process embraces his true self. Bernal is charisma incarnate as he throws himself into the role. Williams profiled Armendariz for an Amazon series, and makes an assured debut here in narrative storytelling. Warmly engaging, the story manages to be a crowd-pleaser without resorting to easy sentimentality.
Watch it: on Prime Video
