Y Tu Mamá También

Rating

Director

Alfonso Cuarón

Screenplay

Alfonso Cuarón, Carlos Cuarón

Length

1h 46m

Starring

Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Diana Bracho, Andrés Almeida, Ana López Mercado, Nathan Grinberg, Verónica Langer, María Aura, Juan Carlos Remolina, Daniel Giménez Cacho

MPAA Rating

R

Review

Events may change them but life experiences are universal. Y Tu Mamá También transcends nationality to depict the lives of three youths whose paths seem inextricably linked, their personal growth or stagnation dependent upon their approach to sex, love, and individual identity

Before they became familiar faces to American audiences, director Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) and actors Gael García Bernal (Babel) and Diego Luna (Disney+ series Andor) worked together on this Spanish-language film about a pair of teenage friends (García Bernal and Luna) who embark on a road trip with a young woman (Maribel Verdú) who excites them in ways they had never imagined. Their coming of age story takes place against the picturesque backdrop of the backroads of Mexico and its many non-tourist-laden beaches.

These slice of life dramas can range in quality from tremendously fascinating and involving to bewilderingly rambling and forgettable. Y Tu Mamá También thankfully adheres to the former giving audiences a thought-provoking look at entrenched masculinity and undercurrents of homosexuality. These teens are flirtatious, sex-driven creatures looking for their next conquest, bragging about their prowess and coming undone when their inhibitions are down. There is so much to identify with for young audiences that it can provide a framework for understanding the essence of one’s sexuality while gripping with the societal restrictions to such affairs.

Cuarón showcases his minimalist approach, focusing on simple compositions and creative uses of reflective surfaces. The film lives and dies on its rapid-fire dialogue exploring human emotion in ways that only an astute artist can. Cuarón also showcases his appreciation for French New Wave as the many events they pass by as they travel through Mexico showcase a country at war with itself and where poverty is evident. Fairly reminiscent of Jean-Luc Godard’s black comedy Week End, Y Tu Mama Tambien is a bit more subdued in tone, but a little more fascinating with its focus on realism.

The three leads are superb giving us believable figures whose natural evolution feels honestly earned. García Bernal and Luna showcase their characters’ deepest fears, most intense desires, and their inability to see beyond the strict personas they have cultivated as they’ve grown older. Verdú provides them a world-weary viewpoint, one that is focused on living life to its fullest despite the difficulties of the past, identifying the core of one’s essence and exploring its depths. It’s a well-oiled ensemble.

Y Tu Mama Tambien marked the Oscar emergence of one of modern cinema’s most honored voices. His Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay presaged an impressive career that saw him achieve greatness in both Spanish and English, a bilingual career that many directors would be envious of.

Review Written

June 3, 2026