Chicuarotes (2019) User Reviews

THE MOVIE IS BASED ON A METAPHOR (AXOLOTLS - SALAMANDERS)

[moralesrules · 8/10 · 10 October 2021]

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.

Entertaining and a taste of the reality at the same time.

[josue-27744 · 8/10 · 2 July 2019]

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.

A sad urban fable

[serya_1107 · 8/10 · 5 July 2019]

What a nice surprise was this movie. Chicuarotes is the raw story of a couple of characters born in misery, and to whom the future does not bring more than more misery.

Loaded with urbanity, sleaze language, black humor and helplessness, CHICUAROTES manages to portray with realism the difficult life of those who have very little, sometimes nothing ... and their attempt to leave a vicious circle in seemingly infinite. Bravo!

What is a script? said the mexican

[Fernando_Gutz · 6/10 · 16 September 2020]

This film is made every 3-4 years and when they seem to have experience on it they always make the same mistakes again. The weight of the film falls as always in seeing the sad and hard life that these people live, stories that are not far from reality, but if anyone took a camera and went out to record surely they would achieve what this script with mediocre dialogues could not achieve. It hurts because the opportunity to make a movie is not available to everyone, but why do they always give it to the worst writers? Why always this pretentious view of social inequality? Can anyone do something different in México?

Problems in modern Mexico

[DogePelis2015 · 7/10 · 13 December 2020]

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

So real

[analauralch · 10/10 · 26 June 2020]

As a mexican this was so fun / painful to watch. Its one of those movies that put your reality in perspective, and at the same time makes you realize how lucky you are to have a decent or good life.

The characters and interactions are so real it made us suffer along them. I dont understand users whining about them being bad people, I perceived them as victims of their circumstances.

BRAVO Gael, que orgullo y qué gran trabajo. Gracias.

This is a good movie

[javier-bond · 7/10 · 23 August 2020]

If someone imagined it could happen, the story of chicuarotes is one of many unfortunate stories that surround the most poor in Mexico and developing countries, it portrays in an immersive manner the struggles and the ignorance of people that are just born, raised and mourned in misery. It is not a movie that generates guilt in the viewer rather than it awakens appreciation of what you have and confronts you to the terrible reality that some people live, from your comfortable couch. Characters are poorly developed but not stupid as some say, it is really a series of bad decisions.

A lot to process.

Esto es Genial

[iramjimenez-75596 · 9/10 · 20 February 2021]

Esta Pelicula Mexicana Vale Mucho la Pena Esta Son Las Películas que deberíamos apoyar Las Actuaciones de Benny Emmanuel Como Cagalera Fueron Muy Buenas Igual Con la Interpretación de Gabriel Carvajal Como Moloteco Fueron Más o Menos Para ser su Primera Película y la Dirección de Gael Garcia Bernal Fue Buena

meh

[dilbararys-19150 · 4/10 · 19 July 2020]

It could have been good, but the execution was rather poor. Nothing about the characters made me believe that they would act the way they did, it kind of just concluded that poor people are stupid, rather than that poverty/in search of better life led them to take desperate measures and make silly mistakes.

There are plenty of other films where the idea of poverty followed by tragic events were constructed in a better and more realistic way, this one doesn't even fall in the mediocre category.

A reflexion about the real situation in cdmx

[maujesus · 8/10 · 4 July 2019]

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.

Disappointing

[monisa_129 · 4/10 · 3 August 2019]

A well shot telenovela with little to none understanding of the actual reality lived by its characters.

Awesome

[yakatoriginal · 10/10 · 1 August 2019]

That movie is awkward and sad, it doesn't matter from what point of view you see it, because it is a reality that many Mexicans prefer to ignore. While it does not have its own style in the film direction it is not negligible that this film has opened the debate that many of us have about how bad is the assault on a person when the need governs everywhere. The debate of how bad society is in Mexico that we must resort to self-defense and this can be our downfall, the film is not bad, it is incredible and deserves this qualification...

truth hurts

[beatrizzzfloressss · 8/10 · 1 September 2021]

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.

glib, empty.

[cinebaboso · 3/10 · 10 August 2020]

I feel this movie is overhyped by the people because of it's fake deepness, it doesn't have anything but a "reality" so it's just full of homophobic remarks and the writer spitting "hey this is wrong by the way". The decisions the main character takes are ridiculous constantly and they don't have normal consequences, it always works out some way. Every image is beautiful but it lacks of a good writing. By the way, the actors actually do the best they can, but there's no saving for the script. Summary: Empty and beautiful

Intense, twisted, crude and a modern mexican must-watch.

[julioito · 8/10 · 3 July 2020]

Two teenagers behold the abyss of poverty, domestic violence, social issues and life in the dark corners of Mexico City. We get to see the abyss through the eyes and actions of the characters and the recurrent question: "Is there any other way to survive?". There are many moments in which different metaphors based on details, conversations and objects make their way into the film to create an atmosphere that goes beyond what is presented. Some of those metaphors fail to complement the main story and actually in a certain point we might stop paying attention to the plot of the movie. However, it gets the jobe done in building the entire context, in making you feel scared and anxious when an intense scene appears.

Terrible and dumb characters. Pésimos personajes.

[victorherm54 · 4/10 · 31 August 2019]

I was hoping for something along the lines of Amores Perros but this fell woefully short. The movie's main flaw is that the characters are painfully stupid and/or unlikeable. The main character is a scumbag, unlike Gael Garcia's character in Amores Perros who was likeable. The only redeeming main character is the young girl, who shouldve been the main character around whom the movie centered.

What a great flick.

[chrisefstathiou · 10/10 · 16 October 2022]

There is a lot of misunderstanding about this movie in this review section. Once a person understands the culiture of CDMX and the life of a chilango en México then that person will be able to understand this movie. Great delivery and full of emotional drama. I would not expect anything less from a Mexican director. Great cast, great characters and this movie portrayed the real struggle in cdmx. This movie is a heavy movie. Full of emotion and was delivered very well. I am just adding extra characters to this post to meet the minimum.

Para mis mexicanos, somos más fuertes juntos. Vive México.

A wasted opportunity

[fernandoscience · 3/10 · 2 July 2021]

Gael García seemed to find a good topic, even a decent story. But instead of giving space and allowing the characters to be (I'm no longer here and even Roma are good examples of this), Garcia Bernal simply aligns them to the soap opera stereotypes that Mexicans are so used to (if not sick of) by now. For a moment, I thought I was watching La Rosa de Guadalupe (Televisa does produce the movie and it shows). Luckily other Mexicans creators are doing what Gael did not dare to do.