Moody Tex-Mex wrestler biopic has sex, language, violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Sex, Romance & Nudity
a lot
A scene shows (from the waist up) two men having intercourse. Men kiss and dance. A wrestler mimics sexual positions with other men during fights. A married man has an affair with another man. Sexual references and innuendo include men at a bar talking about not wanting to go to the bathroom or "take out" their "d--ks" at the same time as a gay man, "closing your legs" so you don't end up like another woman, "jerking off," and "f--king."
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Lucha libre wrestlers give and take serious hits and falls. A beloved character dies. Men express homophobic fears and prejudices. There's corruption in towns on both sides of the border.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Car and clothing brands, the brand of Cassandro, lucha libre.
Diverse Representations
a lot
Set on the U.S.-Mexico border and shot in a mix of mostly Spanish and some English. Most characters are Mexican or Mexican American. Lead character is gay and withstands disparaging comments and treatment as a result of homophobia. His married lover won't acknowledge him in public, and his Christian father has rejected him. But he puts on a costume and proudly performs in drag as an openly gay wrestler. A scene involves migrants running past a window at night to enter the United States.
Be yourself. A person's sexuality shouldn't elicit prejudice or disparaging remarks. People aren't perfect. Everyone deserves respect and equal treatment.
Positive Role Models
some
Saúl is a dedicated and loving son, and his mother gives him unconditional love in return. She also worries about him and how he will be treated as a gay man. She's ill, and she seems depressed, still pining for a lost love. Saúl's father, who has a second family, abandoned them when he found out Saúl was gay. Saúl trains with a female wrestler who believes in him. A local fat cat helps Saúl launch his career but also gets him into drugs. As Cassandro, Saúl serves as a role model for others, especially gay men. He's in love with a married man who won't be seen with Saúl in public.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Cassandro is a film about an openly gay lucha libre wrestler in Mexico and Texas, based on a real person. Played by Gael García Bernal, Cassandro is a role model to many, though Saúl, the person behind the persona, has challenges in life, like a sick mother, a father who rejected him for being gay, and a married lover who won't acknowledge him in public. He also gets into drugs (cocaine) and drinks excessively, suffers physical beatings in the ring, and deals with homophobia from men around him. He and his mother both smoke cigarettes. Sexual content includes men kissing, dancing, and having sex (shown from the waist up). Cassandro mimics sexual positions with other men during fights. Language in the English subtitles and dialogues includes "s--k," "s--t," "ass," "hell," "damn," "f--got," "bastard," "screw you," "homo," "wuss," "d--k," and "jerking off." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
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What's the Story?
CASSANDRO is the stage name of Saúl (Gael García Bernal), a lonely gay man who lives with his mother in El Paso. He's a two-bit wrestler on the lucha libre ("free fight," literally) circuit on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border. When he begins training with a more successful female wrestler, Sabrina (Roberta Colindrez), he transforms his stage persona to a flamboyant (in drag) wrestler (known as "exóticos") called Cassandro. He proves popular with fans and gets backing from local businessman Lorenzo (Joaquín Cosio) and his lackey Felipe (Bad Bunny). Saúl enjoys the spoils of success, but still fights his own demons, including a doomed love affair with a married man (Raúl Castillo), an ailing mother (Perla de la Rosa), and an absentee father (Robert Salas).
This moody biopic deserves attention, both for its award-worthy central performance by García Bernal and for its sensitive handling of a unique cultural tradition. García Bernal plays Cassandro with a subtlety and sincerity that contrasts poignantly with the theatrics of his "exótico" character in the wrestling ring. His touching devotion to his mother, his impossible love for a married man, his father's rejection, and his disparaged sexuality in a "macho" culture are all scripted, directed, and acted with great delicacy. The film tries to cover perhaps too much time, shrinking Cassandro's successful rise into montages, which short-shrift the uniqueness of his popularity. You walk away with more a feeling than an understanding (for that, a 2018 documentary on the celebrity can fill in the blanks).
Viewers may be drawn to the film because of singer Bad Bunny's small role, but he's on-screen very little. The more memorable secondary characters are played by de la Rosa as his depressed mother and especially Castillo as his repressed lover. But the camera stays almost exclusively on García Bernal, who goes back and forth between a modest son still living with his mother and an increasingly confident and flamboyant stage persona. The intentionally dark lighting and melancholy instrumental theme suggest a darkness perhaps symbolic of the aspects of Saúl's life that must stay hidden or obscured. This works to underscore how different he feels (and is treated) as Cassandro, who swaggers to the ring accompanied by borderland-inspired disco tunes, and works the crowd for laughs with clownish choreography, stage make-up, and costumes -- all of which the production spectacularly re-creates.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the film portrays Saúl's transformation into Cassandro.
What is meant by "exótico"? Do you think the term is flattering? Why, or why not?
The film is set on the U.S.-Mexico border. How was this setting shown in the film?
How would you describe the mood of this film? How did this affect your experience as a viewer?
MPAA explanation:
language, drug use and sexual content
Last updated:
December 1, 2023
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