Roma Parent Guide

“No matter what they tell you, we women are always alone.” These words of Senora Sofia (Marina de Tavira) to her maid, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), sum up the theme of Roma - men cannot be trusted and women need to be strong.

It is true that both Sofia and Cleo need strength for the long haul. Sofia and her four children are abandoned when her physician husband, Antonio, (Fernando Grediaga) moves in with his mistress. As Sofia struggles with her grief and rage, Cleo discovers that she is pregnant. Her boyfriend, Fermin (Jorge Antonio Guerrero), disappears immediately after she shares the news. When she finds him later, he disavows his paternity and threatens to beat her and the baby if she ever comes near him again. The two women react to their desertion very differently – Sofia with anger, fits of weeping, and alcohol consumption and Cleo with a deeper retreat into her natural silent stoicism.

While Roma tells a moving story, it does so at a glacial pace. The film moves very…very…very…slowly. It’s two hours and 15 minutes long, but it feels like it lasts for three. And because the movie is filmed in Spanish with English subtitles, it will feel even longer for viewers who don’t like foreign language films. The production’s narrative arc is weak and the movie feels like a scrapbook filled with scattered memories that only achieve some sort of coherence in retrospect. While I was watching the movie, I kept wondering when a plot was going to turn up.

Roma also comes with some serious content issues that justify its Restricted rating. In one cringeworthy episode, we see Fermin doing martial arts while completely naked: however, this nudity is not sexual. He looks so ridiculous that the scene can’t possibly be titillating to any viewer. But his treatment of Cleo is so cruel that their relationship remains profoundly disturbing and may be upsetting for survivors of abusive relationships. And the scenes of Cleo’s labor are sufficiently detailed that, even though she is covered with a sheet, any woman who has delivered a child will feel sympathy pains while watching her. (Spoiler alert: Cleo’s baby is born dead and this can be distressing for those who have experienced similar neonatal losses.)

The film does have some strengths, particularly its cinematography. The movie is beautifully shot with carefully composed images. And black and white film does wonders for the movie’s 1970 setting in Mexico City. It cleans up the grubbiness of the crowded, dirty metropolis and tones down the garishness of the decade’s fashion and décor. It makes the film feel like a classic right from the start. Roma also stands out for providing a positive (almost idealized) portrait of an indigenous woman. Cleo is the heroine of the film – patient, stoic, self-sacrificing, loving, and gentle. Director Alfonso Cauron’s tribute to his childhood nanny comes through here with a strong sense of affectionate nostalgia. Whether or not viewers share his affection for this leisurely narrative remains to be seen.