Esto no es Berlín

The details are fresh and the lead actor holds the screen even as his character withholds himself, defining who he will be in his own time and on his own terms.

Both edgy and sensitive... It doesn't go in the directions that you necessarily expect.

Family tragedy, legal matters, and the World Cup all zip through the drama, which has a miniseries' worth of incidents that get dispatched in quick, merely informational scenes filmed with little style or imagination.

"This Is Not Berlin" is both a sensitive coming-of-age story and a vibrant, affectionate ode to Mexico City's burgeoning counterculture.

Scenes rush by as quickly as the mounds of cocaine and faceless orgy scenes, creating a scatterbrained collage of provocative images devoid of context or meaning.

A gutsy collection of 1986 specificities, Berlin might not have an obvious narrative punchline in the end, but it remains one hell of a nostalgic revolt throughout.

This is not Berlin, much like its title suggests, is a potent love letter to a Mexico at a crossroads.

[An] edgy, challenging coming of age story.

I really wanted it to break my heart open, but it just left me wistful for what could have been.

The subtext is enriched by certain camera and aesthetic decisions. [Full review in Spanish]