Based on Cuarón’s youthful experiences and impressively shot by the director himself in black and white, the film is a story of ”Cleo” (Yalitza Aparicio) who works as a maid for a middle-class family during the political turmoil of the 70s in the Roma district of Mexico City. With no needless exposition, the film unfolds surreptitiously, more by quiet observation than by emphasising plot twists. Small details of banality (dog poop, aeroplanes, cramped spaces, even a Gravity joke slipped in) serve at times more emphatic roles than the heavier blows of life (an asshole boyfriend, a difficult pregnancy, the troubled marriage of her employers, the violent impulse simmering in the boys of the family) or the threatening forces of nature (earthquake, forest fire, the ominous roar of the thundering ocean). Cuarón wisely avoids all familiar cliches, letting Aparicio’s soulful, unassuming performance – in its subtleness reminding us of Giulietta Masina’s powerful roles – grow into the real power source of the film.
For good reason, Roma grew into quite an award magnet (including the Golden Lion from Venice, ten Oscar nominations with three wins, plus two Golden Globes for Best Direction and Foreign Language Motion Picture). Even The Finnish Critics’ Association voted it the Best Foreign Film released in 2018.
Lauri Timonen