CASSANDRO

Director: Roger Ross Williams
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Raúl Castillo, Robert Colindrez, Bad Bunny, Perla De La Rosa, Joaquín Cosio

The Mexican wrestling culture of Lucha Libre is very rarely explored on screen, but the new film Cassandro looks to shine a light on the true story of one wrestler who shocked the system. Gael Garcia Bernal steps into the title role of Saul, who went by the stage name, Cassandro. Saul was a luchador who originally went by the name El Topo in the amateur circuit. He is a gay man working in a very masculine world of sports in Mexico and frequently had slurs thrown his way while competing. That never stopped him which drove him further into making a name for himself. He hired a new trainer named Sabrina (Colindrez) who suggested taking on the Exoticó character to make him stand out even more. From there, the identity of Cassandro was born. Instead of wearing the traditional full face mask, he wore makeup, short shorts, a tank top, and walks out to “I Will Survive” The Exoticó character was known in the Lucha Libre community, but Cassandro turned it from a flop spectacle to a winning sensation. In select theaters and streaming on Prime Video

Here’s my review