Gael Garcia Bernal delivers one of his career best performances as real life exótico wrestler Cassandro, who revolutionized Mexican wrestling with his outspoken queerness and persona. His performance is subtle and powerful in a film that is rather on the lean side, but manages to inspire, especially through the central performance.
For those (like me) who don't know much about the lucha libre world much of the film is eye opening. Director Williams uses a cautious approach to his first feature but he knows well to show case the main character and let his journey take us on ours. In doing so we see how human queerness is and what a positive force it can be, even in truly heteronormative and intolerant spaces. Cassandro doesn't feature showy moments of homophobia or violence towards marginalized figures. Instead Cassandro the person is given strength through standing up to regular tauntings of the F-word and generalized devaluation for his queerness and femininity. In his embrace of all that he changes the world.
It may be the film's final moments which are the most moving. When Cassandro reunites with his bigoted father in a rather simple and understated scene, Bernal shows such power and strength, the kind that comes with being a queer man. This theme persists through the film, through his dignity in the ring and in rising above his closeted partners, but this scene, his defiance of the need for hetero-approval, is perhaps the moment of real power in the film and the performance.
Cassandro
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Raúl Castillo, Bad Bunny
Director: Roger Ross Williams
Writers: David Teague, Roger Ross Williams
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