Gorgeous to look at but mind-bogglingly dull. Easily 2018's most overrated film.

Movie of the year

A+

With such an impressive film catalog, Roma may be Cuarón's best film to date. On a technical level, it's lush, visually impressive and huge but it's also a small, slice of life drama anchored by a moving performance Yalitza Aparicio. It also includes some of the most heartbreaking, real scenes of any movie this year.

Also, I feel like this needs to be said: as someone who was not able to see this in theaters and watched on Netflix, I don't feel like much is lost by watching this on your TV. Now I'm not by any means saying to watch Roma on your cell phone or laptop but watching on your flat screen TV still proves to be a satisfying and gorgeous experience. I think people saying "YOU NEED TO SEE ROMA IN THEATERS!" may only make people NOT see it if they're not able to find a theater playing it. Should you see it in theaters if you can? Absolutely but if not, watching it at home is perfectly fine and the film still looks beautiful.

A+ - - - my only A+ film thus far this year.

There is an elitist component to the people saying it MUST be watched on the big screen. It is, say, Edgar Wright on Twitter in L.A. or a Manhattan-based writer for Slate...people for whom an art-house playing it is right down the street.

Agree with this

C

All the little touches on this film, we as Mexicans got all of the things happening in th background it really is an ode to Mexican life.

Plus that beach scene (it's less than half hour from my hometown) is probably thr best scene of the yesr

Roma is good, but could have been great at a tighter 100 minutes or so. It does get a little boring sometimes. I think the movie’s biggest achievement is how it always feels like the characters are moving through a living world, rather than one tailor-made for them. I appreciated the authenticity.

I've held off on writing any reactions to this movie after seeing it almost two weeks ago. I guess I wanted to give it time to digest... I was not initially blown away by the film like I partly expected to be. Certainly there is a LOT to champion, including the centrality and strength of female characters. But I felt like the movie held me at a distance from the core emotional experience of the characters, and a lot of this can be attributed to the decisions made in directing and cinematography. Something about how the movie was shot gave me a cold, observer experience, like I was witnessing something happening in an external environment. It's almost like the camera moves through the world and just happened to catch the characters at different times.... which on one hand is very skilled and stylish, but for the emotional component, created an unwanted feeling of distance.

On the other hand there were a few scenes that definitely gave me goosebumps. The stillbirth scene was horrible, beautiful, and intimate. And the subsequent beach scene (and Cleo's admission after the rescue that she didn't want the child) was rousing, glorious and tender. I also loved the martial arts class and how it subtly ended with Cleo seemingly effortlessly exhibiting the same kind of strength and balance as the teacher.

So..... I guess I'm still uncertain how I feel about Roma. It suffered a little in my experience for having received such accolades before I saw it. But there's so much about the movie that is undeniably beautiful. It probably belongs in my current Top 10 of the year, but I'm having some resistance to putting it there, because the initial viewing experience did not transport me fully into this world. And I'm hesitant to be a bandwagon jumper. Perhaps I'm also being too demanding of my expectations of Cuaron, who directed a number of my favorite films ever, including one that hovers near the top, Children of Men. Perhaps if there was an eight minute continuous-take tracking shot following the dead baby in Roma, I'd like it better. (that's a joke)

letter grade:
A-

My review http://wokj.worldofkj.com/the-search-fo ... g-in-roma/

Agreed. The only thing that impressed me was the cinematography. It's a huge chore to get through.

I hate this movie. I can't believe it's winning tomorrow.

I really hope it doesn't. I don't think it's a lock for Picture.