Los Bañistas

Los Bañistas (2014) is another example of pretty decent Mexican movie that went pretty much unnoticed by the general public. It gives yet another take on the somewhat over-exploited plot of "our protagonist meets a grumpy old neighbor" but without falling the usual commonplaces or this kind of movies (incidentally few days before this I watched 'This Beautiful Fantastic', 2016).

Like most of the great Mexican movies of this century, this movie explores, on the surface, bleak themes like the broken economy, unemployment, crime, social injustice; in other words, the things mexicans are pretty much used to by now. Much of the subtext of the story of the film is given radio news reports our protagonists hear, or other times we get this information from devices that remains of filmmakers like Alfonso Cuarón (think Children of Men 2006).

I enjoyed a lot the cinematography, especially the use of mirrors in some of the shots. Background music is nearly nonexistent, following the overall feel of minimalism. I look forward to see the other two films the director has made after this, "Mist, 2016" and "Bruma, 2017".