Güeros (2015)
88%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: 22 wins & 14 nominations
A striking effort that synthesizes disparate influences with inventive flair, Güeros marks a bold step forward for modern Mexican cinema
Güeros is like a fancy black and white Instagram filter come to life, but with a lot more depth and meaning. It’s a movie that makes you feel like you’re in a dream, but not the kind where you’re flying or eating ice cream with your favorite celebrity. It’s more like a dream where you’re wandering around a city you’ve never been to, trying to find your way, and everything looks beautiful but also a little bit sad. It’s definitely worth watching, but maybe don’t force your friends to see it if they’re not into artsy stuff.
Production Company(ies)
Castle Rock Entertainment, Detour Filmproduction Filmhaus Wien Universa Filmproduktion,s
Distributor
Kino Lorber
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
México City, Mexico
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2015
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:1h 48m
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Language(s):Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 20, 2015 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 2015
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Tenoch Huerta, Ilse Salas, Leonardo Ortizgris, Laura Almela, Sebastián Aguirre, Raúl Briones, directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios, written by Alonso Ruizpalacios, Gibrán Portela, comedy, Mexican cinema, student strikes, black and white cinematography, social commentary, Richard Linklater homage, French new wave, inventive, beautiful, brutal, ironic, madcap, grim, social differences, social-political commentary, simple story, stylistic flourishes, emotional bond, parallels of social criticisms, beautiful prose, colloquialisms, music, humor, Kino Lorber, Coria Corial, José Felipe, Ramiro Ruiz, MPAA rating, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Elissa Suh, Kevin Maher, David Jenkins, Peter Bradshaw, Peter Keough, Nick James, Rosa Parra, Dennis Harvey, Rubén Rosario, Daniel Krauze, Indra Arriaga
Worldwide gross: $102,354
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $127,765
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,997
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 13,933
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Ilse Salas – Ana
Leonardo Ortizgris – Santos
Laura Almela – Isabel
Sebastián Aguirre – Tomás
Raúl Briones – Furia
Director(s)
Alonso Ruizpalacios
Writer(s)
Alonso Ruizpalacios, Gibrán Portela
Producer(s)
Coria Corial, José Felipe, Ramiro Ruiz
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
22 wins & 14 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (54) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (4)
Draining the color in service of the disillusioned youth may initially seem detrimental to the depiction of Mexico, but the gorgeous and striking cinematography emits its own radiance, capturing every gradient of silver.
March 16, 2020
Elissa Suh
StageBuddy.com
TOP CRITIC
It plays like a dreamy, structurally fractured Richard Linklater homage to the French new wave.
November 19, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Seek this one out, then make a friend happy by forcing them to see it too.
November 19, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
David Jenkins
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
A very smart debut.
November 19, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
“Güeros” is brutal, ironic, madcap, and grim.
September 17, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4
Peter Keough
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
As self-aware black-and-white, nouvelle-vague-tribute fever dreams go, Güeros is surprisingly beautiful, inventive and convincing.
September 15, 2015
Nick James
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Brilliant use of black and white cinematography to showcase social differences, social-political commentary with a simple yet fascinating story.
August 15, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
Rosa Parra
Latinx Lens
One of the most bracing Mexican debut features in recent years…
October 21, 2020
Dennis Harvey
48 Hills
Ruizpalacios is too busy indulging in stylistic flourishes for us to form much of an emotional bond with the characters, leading to a closing shot that would have been really powerful if he’d tightened the film’s structure.
August 22, 2018
Rubén Rosario
MiamiArtZine
The charm of Güeros, by Alonso Ruizpalacios, is in its variety of… apparent contradictions. [Full review in Spanish]
January 12, 2018
Daniel Krauze
El Financiero
Güeros provides space for this type of dialogue (parallels of social criticisms) delivered through beautiful prose, colloquialisms, music and humor.
June 20, 2017
Indra Arriaga
Anchorage Press
With the Mexican student strike of 99 as a backdrop and the use of black and white photography and playful camerawork, Güeros is a fresh and interesting film that must be seen. [Full review in Spanish]
May 6, 2016
Fernando Moreno
Ibero 90.9…
Plot
During the student strikes of 1999 in Mexico City, three teenagers search for folk-rocker Epigmenio Cruz in the black-and-white comedy Güeros.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no specific goofy or funny comment about the film on Fresh Kernels, but the critic consensus does describe it as a “striking effort that synthesizes disparate influences with inventive flair.”
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