Another Sundance ’23 title makes it out to the masses, this time via Prime. The first narrative film by celebrated documentarian Roger Ross Williams, Cassandro tells the story of Saúl Armendáriz. A budding luchador, Saúl takes on the titular persona as an exótico. Not just a regular exótico, but one that wins.
In the late 1980s Saúl (Gael Garcia Bernal) lives in El Paso with his mother, regularly crossing the boarder to wrestle. As El Topo, he isn’t finding success. He meets a trainer named Sabrina and she suggests becoming an exótico. Luche libre, like professional wrestling in the US, has its characters and drama. Exóticos are not exactly either heels (villains) or faces (good guys), but a campy characters to liven up the entertainment. They are men in drag performing as gay caricatures. Usually portrayed by straight men, Saúl is an actually gay man, in a secret relationship with a married man who is also a luchador. As Cassandro, Saúl rises in popularity and secures a bout with the Son of Santo in Mexico City. The expected biopic beats occur along the way.
Williams’ direction really excels with the character scenes. The wrestling sequences, though exciting, seem to lack flair. Thankfully, this is more a character study than a sports action film. Cassandro is more Rocky than say Rocky IV. More Rocky than the The Wrestler for that matter with maybe some Raging Bull added in. This is more focused on the life of Saúl, and also Cassandro. As with many biopics, many liberties seem to have been taken, if only to steamline the drama. The film has little fat to it, but the pacing stumbles in the latter part of the film. Some of the family aspects of the drama, particularly Saúl’s relationship with his father, fall flat. Bernal’s performance really makes the film however and Williams’ singular focus showcases this best. It might be his best performance and the best reason to watch the film.
One wonders how this could have done in cinemas instead of straight to streaming. Stories like this deserve a wider promotion, but any distribution is better than no distribution.
Grade: B-