2 Best Movies to Watch by Alonso Ruizpalacios

Modern day coming-of-age ennui isn’t a new subject at all, but there’s a charm to the way this was presented in Güeros. In his first film, Alonso Ruizpalacios beautifully shoots each scene in black and white, forming striking images of what the capital used to be and taking new approaches in depicting certain scenes (for example, that panic attack with the POV shot covered in feathers!). The cast also excellently portray this millennial emotion well, with their eyes glazed over as they try to seek moments of connection and grounding, as they try to make sense of it all. While some of the politics might fly under the radar to people outside the country, Güeros nevertheless serves as an interesting portrait of the time, as well as an interesting debut for one of Mexico’s avant-garde filmmakers.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Adrián Ladrón, Alonso Ruizpalacios, Bernardo Velasco, Ilse Salas, Laura Almela, Leonardo Ortizgris, Marcelo Tobar, Raúl Briones, Sebastián Aguirre, Sophie Alexander-Katz, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Yojath Okamoto

Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios

Rating: NR

In the Mexican film A Cop Movie, director Alonso Ruizpalacios mixes fact and fiction, documentary and narrative, to tell the tale of Teresa and Montoya, two police officers whose dreams are dashed by the corruption of their trade and who, eventually, find love and comfort in each other.

Ruizpalacios takes thrilling risks in structuring this genre-bending story—cutting stories into parts, jumping back and forth between the harrowingly real and captivatingly non-real. For all the experimental maneuvers he makes, however, the through-line is always Teresa and Montoya: particularly, their love for each other and for an institution that should have, in an ideal world, supported them and the people they vowed to protect.

To its credit, instead of merely humanizing the controversial police force, A Cop Movie adds some much-needed nuance to the big picture. At the end of the day, they’re no different than any other underpaid laborers working desperately to make end meets. A Cop Movie doesn’t gloss over the fact that the police, like so many other workers, are stuck in a rotten system that’s long overdue for a major overhauling.

Genre: Action, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Thriller

Actor: Carlos Corona, Juan Carlos Medellin, Leonardo Alonso, Mónica Del Carmen, Olivia Lagunas, Raúl Briones, Yoshira Escárrega

Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios

Rating: R

2 Best Movies to Watch by Alonso Ruizpalacios

1. Güeros, 2014

2. A Cop Movie, 2021