Y Tu Mamá También · reception & legacy

How Y Tu Mamá También has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

An arthouse sensation on release — Venice screenplay prize, an Oscar nomination, and a record-setting unrated US run — though at home Cuarón publicly fought Mexico's ratings board for slapping it with an 18 certificate that barred the very teenagers it depicted. Now it's fully canonised: a Criterion edition and a fixture on best-of-the-2000s lists.

What's debated

Film fans still argue over whether it's a horny road-trip comedy with politics sprinkled on top or a political film wearing a sex comedy as a disguise — with the narrator's interruptions as Exhibit A for both sides.

Its footprint

It made Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna international stars and an inseparable duo in the public imagination, and the 'charolastra' manifesto still gets quoted by fans; its deadpan omniscient narrator became one of the most imitated devices in 2000s cinema.

Where it stands

A cornerstone of the Mexican New Wave alongside Amores Perros, and a perennial Letterboxd favourite that sits comfortably in the 'you must have seen this' tier of 2000s world cinema.

Named by the director

Influences Alfonso Cuarón has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

• Jean-Luc Godard — Cuarón cited the French New Wave and Godard in particular — he and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki wanted to shoot with the loose, immediate spirit of Godard's films, including the detached narrator device.