NOTE: This review contains MAJOR spoilers for the film (streaming on Netflix).

[1] …this was a very personal movie for Cuarón, a lot, if not most of the details came from his childhood. (It was based on his real life nanny named Libo…) He tried to show the struggle of domestic workers in Mexico as well as the differences between social classes that only Mexicans can understand. … for Mexicans see this film as a journey to the past and for younger Mexicans an opportunity to see the Mexico they never knew.

[2] We see so much through Cleo’s eyes, that to expand the focus would have weakened it structurally and thematically. The events were not fleshed out, because Cleo had no way to analyse or see the wider picture. For the vast majority of the population, the political events shown would also have been merely glimpsed or read about.

[3] The turmoil in the streets are a mirror of Cleo and Sofias’ inner lives. This is an honest reflection of the lives of many, many women.

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio- a first time actress/former preschool teacher) is a 20-something maid in the household of an upper middle-class family in the Colonia Roma neighborhood of Mexico City in the 1970s. In this household are Sofia (Marina Tavira), her husband Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), their four young children (Tono, Paco, Pepe, and Sofi) and Sofia’s mother Teresa, along w/ another maid, Adela. The thoughtful blonde-haired youngest boy (Pepe) is a stand-in for Alfonso Cuaron (winner of the Golden Globe for Best Director). Unlike his two older brothers, he doesn’t make fun of or fight much with his sister (Sofi). Cleo shares an especially strong bond w/ Pepe and Sofi; they play, joke, and laugh together often.

Cleo’s daily life with the family incl. cleaning, cooking, taking the kids to and from school, serving them meals, putting the kids to bed and waking them up. Cleo and Adela share a room and are good friends; they sometimes speak in their own (native) language, aside from Spanish. Antonio (who is a medical doctor) leaves for a conference in Quebec; Sofia becomes quite emotional as they say goodbye. On their days off, Cleo and Adela go out to eat and to the movies with their boyfriends (Fermín and Ramón). Several months pass and the children start asking about their father; Sofia agonizes over what to tell them. Antonio is living in town w/ his mistress, having callously cast away his family. Cleo, Tono, and a cousin nearly run into him outside a movie theater one night! After some time, Cleo learns that she is pregnant; she gets no support from Fermin (who denies that he’s the father). He rejects Cleo with a rather nasty attitude (in front of his friends)! Adela urges Cleo to visit her mother; Cleo doesn’t go because she feels like it’d be too upsetting.

This is a slice of life film that has some very emotionally powerful scenes, though it starts out slow. You can see it as a women doing it for themselves film. The men are mysterious; we don’t learn much about them. Notice how Antonio (who represents Cuaron’s absentee father) is revealed bit by bit in his first scene; first we see the large sedan, then the radio, then his hand, and (finally) he emerges from the car. At times, Sofia (who has a strong personality) speaks harshly to Cleo; she doesn’t have her husband to blame. Over time, Cleo and Sofia (who come from quite different backgrounds), have to rely more and more on each other to keep the household (and family) going.

The look of this film is unique, as it is in black and white and the picture is super sharp (clear) in every shot. As one movie critic noted: “Every scene looks like a painting!” There isn’t always a lot of dialogue, but something is always going on within the frame. You hear bits and pieces of conversations, just as Cleo would going about her work. Even when revolutionaries are running the streets, this family has to deal w/ their ordinary concerns, such as furniture shopping. In one memorable scene, the family silently eats ice cream together, their heads lowered in sadness; a noisy and happy wedding party is seen in the background. The most intense scenes in the film show Cleo acting in a selfless (and heroic) manner to rescue Paco and Sofi from drowning in choppy waters of the ocean. She doesn’t know how to swim, which adds more danger to the mix! As the family (all safe) gathers on the beach and embraces, you can’t help but become emotional. I saw this film on Netflix; most critics are suggesting you see it on the big screen (if possible).