Cassandro (2023)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, September 15

R Running Time: 107 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

You don’t have to be a fan of professional wrestling or lucha libre to appreciate the significance that comes in telling the story of luchador Saúl Armendáriz’s trailblazing transformation into the character of Cassandro.
Gael García Bernal’s terrific performance is almost enough reason alone to see Cassandro.
While it avoids hagiography, Roger Ross Williams’ film gives great respect and reverence to its main subject.

NO

Stumbles into a headlock of melodrama that the film struggles to power out of in the second half.
Surprisingly, Cassandro undersells some major moments in the performer’s life and suffuses the film’s overall impact.
By downplaying Cassandro’s eventual real-life struggles with addiction and in-ring injuries, we get a rather sanitized version of what is, from all accounts, a truly fascinating life.

OUR REVIEW

As pervasive as professional wrestling is in American culture, “lucha libre,” the Mexican form of the sports/entertainment hybrid carries a rich and storied cultural legacy. So much so in fact that in 2018, lucha libre was declared as “intangible cultural heritage” for Mexico City by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Though as maligned and ridiculed as pro wrestling can be at times, Mexican lucha libre is often revered. Yes, the outcomes are predetermined and the fights remain staged, but the luchadores who compete as rudos (the bad guys) and técnicos (the good guys) exhibit an athleticism and cohesive choreography that sets the style apart from the more physical aspects of WWE, AEW, or any other domestic wrestling organizations.

Far ahead of its time, for decades Mexican lucha libre not only protected the real identities of their masked luchadores, but also introduced the idea of the exótico, a flamboyant competitor who fights in drag. In the new biopic Cassandro, Oscar-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams focuses his first narrative feature on the life of Saúl Armendáriz (Gael García Bernal), who first entered the world of lucha libre in 1989, only to flip his character into that of an exótico a couple of years later.

Ross Williams previously directed a documentary short film on Cassandro in 2016, and his familiarity with Saúl’s story allows him to ease us into a world where Saúl is first trying to make a living wrestling as “El Topo (The Mouse).” Fortunes change when he meets Sabrina (Roberta Colindrez), a luchadora known as “Lady Anarquía (Lady Anarchy).” Recognizing Saúl’s talent, she trains him and gives him plenty of reps in the ring, while also planting the idea in his mind that he could shift his mousey gimmick into that of a potential money-drawing one as an exótico.

Openly gay and supported and loved by his mother Yocasta (Perla De La Rosa), too anxious to watch him actually fight, Saúl draws inspiration on creating his persona from popular actor Verónica Castro. A similarly named telenovela has an influence, as does his mother’s over-the-top wardrobe. And soon enough, he is working a match against a massive man known as Gigántico and catching the eye backstage of the closeted, and married, Gerardo, a/k/a “El Comandante” (Raúl Castillo).

Embodied with a wonderful performance by Bernal, Cassandro’s larger-than-life persona eventually casts a large shadow over his rather diminutive frame. As he moves from independent shows in front of 100 expletive-shouting fans to bigger events, with ladders, steel chairs, blood, and a rabid audience of thousands, his confidence blossoms. His payoffs, however, might be a different story.

Though inconsistencies surface in the tonal shifts of Ross Williams and David Teague’s screenplay, it is clear they each see Saúl’s evolution into Cassandro as inspirational. Bernal grafts moments from a deep connection to his mother and the confidence he gains from training and traveling with Sabrina to further flesh out his in-ring performance. Juxtaposed against the outlandish costumes he wears in the ring, Cassandro is a film bathed in suppressed hues and softened colors. Much of the film exists in dimly lit arenas and nightclubs, the reddish/orange lights used by cinematographer Matías Penachino representing both excitement and possibility, as well as a rather ominous uncertainty of what Saúl may encounter in and out of the ring.

Taking a more melodramatic turn in the second half, the film loses steam with Cassandro falling into the trappings of a paint-by-numbers biopic. Disappointingly, it undersells the significance of Saúl/Cassandro’s eventual opportunity to compete in a main event against the massively popular lucha libre champion, El Hijo del Santo (played by the legendary luchador of the same name).

Authentic and fearless, Bernal’s portrayal of Cassandro balances a youthful charm with a steadfast determination that simply wins you over. With a more well-rounded film, Cassandro could have moved “up the card” and earned a main event spot of the fall movie season.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Gael García Bernal, Roberta Colindrez, Perla De La Rosa, Raúl Castillo, Joaquín Cosío, El Hijo del Santo, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio

Director: Roger Ross Williams
Written by: Roger Ross Williams, David Teague
Release Date: September 15, 2022
Amazon Studios

You don’t have to be a fan of professional wrestling or lucha libre to appreciate the significance that comes in telling the story of luchador Saúl Armendáriz’s trailblazing transformation into the character of Cassandro.

Gael García Bernal’s terrific performance is almost enough reason alone to see Cassandro.

While it avoids hagiography, Roger Ross Williams’ film gives great respect and reverence to its main subject.

Stumbles into a headlock of melodrama that the film struggles to power out of in the second half.

Surprisingly, Cassandro undersells some major moments in the performer’s life and suffuses the film’s overall impact.

By downplaying Cassandro’s eventual real-life struggles with addiction and in-ring injuries, we get a rather sanitized version of what is, from all accounts, a truly fascinating life.