The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales · reception & legacy
1960 · Rogelio A. González
How The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
A hit and a scandal in 1960 Mexico — its gleeful anticlerical jabs somehow sailed past a conservative era's sensibilities — it has since been fully canonised, landing at #19 on Somos magazine's 1994 list of the 100 greatest Mexican films.
What's debated
The perennial fight it starts: the film openly rigs your sympathies toward one half of a toxic marriage, and viewers still argue over whether they've been charmed into rooting for something they shouldn't.
Its footprint
In Mexico it's the black comedy — a TV-rerun staple and the default reference point whenever anyone talks about dark humor in Mexican cinema, with Arturo de Córdova's genial taxidermist among the country's most iconic screen performances.
Where it stands
A stone-cold classic of the late Golden Age in Mexico, and a 'why did nobody tell me about this' discovery for Letterboxd users outside the Spanish-speaking world.