() is a 2023 Mexican

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

film directed by Luis Estrada and written by Estrada and Jaime Sampietro. Starring

Alfonso Herrera Alfonso Herrera Rodríguez (, born 28 August 1983) is a Mexican actor and singer. Born in Mexico City, Herrera made his television debut in ''Clase 406'' in 2002. In the same year, he made his film debut in ''Amar te duele'' and won a MTV Movi ...

Damián Alcázar Damián Alcázar (born January 8, 1953) is a Mexican actor and politician, who is best known outside of Mexico as Lord Sopespian in '' The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'', Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela in the Netflix series ''Narcos'' and ...

Joaquín Cosío Joaquín Cosío Osuna (born 6 October 1962) is a Mexicans, Mexican actor and poet. He has been nominated four times for the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, Mexican Academy of Film Ariel Awards, winning the Ariel Award f ...

and

Ana de la Reguera Anabell Gardoqui de la Reguera (; born 8 April 1977) is a Mexican actress. She has starred in telenovelas, films, the HBO television series ''Eastbound & Down'' and '' Capadocia'', the Amazon television series ''Goliath'', and the 2006 comedy '' ...

. The film opened to mixed reviews. The film was released on March 23, 2023, in Mexico and on May 11 on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Synopsis

Pancho Reyes, a

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

family man who strives to support his wife Mari and their two children, receives a call from his father that his grandfather died and needs to be present at the reading of the will. Pancho does not want to know anything about his

poor Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse

family, whom he abandoned in search of a better future, but his wife encourages him to go to find out if he left them an inheritance, without knowing that this will drastically change their lives.

Cast

Source: *

as Pancho Francisco Reyes *

as Rosendo / Regino / Ambrósio * Joaquín Cosió as Rosendito / Reginito / Grandfather *

as Maria "Mari" Elena Reyes *

Ana Martín Ana Beatriz Martínez Solórzano (born 14 May 1945), known professionally as Ana Martín, is a Mexican actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the Miss World Mexico 1963. which took her to compete in Miss World 1963 in London, w ...

as Dolores * Angelina Peláez as Grandmother * Mayra Hermosillo as Gloria * Fermín Martínez as "El Lupe" * Luis Fernando Peña as Hilario * Cuauhtli Jiménez as Jacinta *

Adriana Louvier Adriana Louvier Vargas (born September 18, 1980), known artistically as Adriana Louvier, is a Mexican television actress and presenter. Life Louvier began acting as a lead actress with a television screen debut in ''La mujer de Lorenzo'' (200 ...

as Normita * Edwarda Gurrola as Florencia *

Leticia Huijara Leticia Huijara is a Mexican actress who was born in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. Biography Huijara began her acting career in 1987 in the work of street theater. Since then she has combined her work in the theater with film and television. She ha ...

as Regino secretary * Vico Escorcia as Bartola *

Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez (born November 2, 1958) is a Mexican actress whose breakout role was the 1983 film '' El Norte.''IMDb
film data ...

as Socorro * Sonia Couoh as Lupita * Silverio Palacios as "El mapache" * Enrique Arreola as Cruz * Salvador Sánchez as Notary * Álex Perea as Rufino * Ariane Pellicer as The Catrina * José Sefami as Jaime Sampaolo * José Manuel Poncelis as Don Pancracio * Natalia Quiroz as Pánfila * Amaury Reyes as Ryan * Mayte Fernández as Cati * Raphael Camarena as Tony * Marius Biegai as "Gringo 1" * Daniel Raymont as "Gringo" 2

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

for the film began on August 30, 2021 and ended in October of the same year in the Pueblo Mágico de Real de Catorce in northern

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Release

Originally scheduled for a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on November 3, 2022 followed by a worldwide release on November 16, 2022 on

, the film's release was postponed as negotiations between Netflix and director Luis Estrada to have a wider theatrical release (much like ''

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths ''Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths'' (), or simply ''Bardo'', is a 2022 Mexican epic psychological black comedy-drama film co-written, co-scored, co-edited, co-produced, and directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. The film stars Dan ...

'' did) broke down. Estrada then bought back theatrical rights to the film, seeking another distributor. In February 2023, Estrada announced that he had reached a deal with

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

for a wide theatrical release. The film was released on March 23, 2023, in Mexico, United States and other countries, followed by a streaming release on May 11 on

Reception

Critical reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, 29% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10.

Controversy

When the film was released, it divided the public and critics in its native Mexico, being criticized for "denigrating the country". Among his critics are Mexican television producer Juan Osorio Ortiz, and

president of Mexico The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...

, the latter who called the film's director a "progressive virtual signaller", classist and racist. Following López Obrador's criticism, director Luis Estrada responded by saying that the president, instead of worrying about a movie he hasn't even seen, should focus on issues that are more relevant to the country.

Accolades

References

External links

* *
Official Page
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Que viva México (2023 film) 2023 films 2023 black comedy films Mexican black comedy films Mexican political satire films Films directed by Luis Estrada 2020s Spanish-language films 2020s Mexican films Films set in Mexico Films shot in Mexico Films about families Films about social class Films about poverty in Mexico Films about corruption in Mexico Spanish-language black comedy films