Roma

Mexico’s Alfonso Cuarón’s thrillingly diverse career encompasses everything from Gravity to Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to Y Tu Mama Tambien. Roma is his masterpiece. An evocation of middle-class household in Mexico City in 1970 (Cuarón would have been nine years old at the time), this scintillating black and white film focusses on Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a live-in maid, who tends to the two children, cleans and cooks, and observes, discreetly, as her employers’ marriage falls apart. But Cleo’s own love life is just as fraught…

Spanning about a year, Roma conveys not only tender and sometimes painful memories of the domestic space, but also suggests wider tensions in the social sphere. Innocent pleasures – going to the movies, a trip to the country, an initially curious reference to martial arts training – take on a darker hue as we learn more about the turmoil roiling within the country. These themes are developed with subtly and grace, leading to a climax that is both heartbreaking and deeply compassionate. Roma is one of those unforgettable films that reveals the depth and preciousness of ordinary lives — and the use of AVX sound in this movie gives it a whole other dimension.

Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Roma won the Academy Awards for Best Director, Cinematography, and Best Foreign Language Film. This is a rare opportunity to enjoy this modern masterpiece on the big screen.

A majestic feat of filmmaking, an intimate portrait of a family that also serves as a broad portrait of a changing nation. Cuaron creates such a vibrant world that it demands to be seen on the biggest canvas possible.

Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail

A richly textured masterpiece, Roma is cinema at its purest and most human.

Tomris Laffly, Time Out

One of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen.

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

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