Roma (2018)

Roma (2018) is a quietly powerful, semi-autobiographical drama that follows a year in the life of Cleo, a live‑in maid of Mixteco heritage, as she cares for a middle‑class family in Mexico City’s Colonia Roma during the early 1970s. When the husband abruptly leaves and Cleo discovers she is pregnant, everyday routines and family bonds are tested. As Sofía, the children's mother, struggles to hold the household together, a family vacation and a national political crisis—culminating in the traumatic Corpus Christi Massacre—force private and public worlds to collide. Watching Roma is an immersive, sensory experience. Shot in luminous black‑and‑white with long, unhurried takes and meticulous sound design, the film places you inside the home: the rhythm of daily chores, the hush of domestic spaces, the laughter of children, and the sudden intrusions of violence. The camera observes with intimacy and patience, turning small gestures and ordinary tasks into moments of profound emotional clarity. The film meditates on memory, class, ethnicity, and the invisible labor that sustains families. It balances tenderness and sorrow without obvious moralizing, building emotional weight through restrained performances and carefully composed images. You will leave with a strong sense of having witnessed a life unfold—both the quiet endurance of Cleo and the broader social currents shaping everyone around her. If you value visual storytelling, patient pacing, and character‑driven drama that links the personal to the political, Roma offers a deeply moving, contemplative cinematic experience.

Actors: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Runtime: 135 min

Genre: Drama

7.0 /10 96 /100 7.7 /10 8.1 /10