This drama film, first released in 2001, has been hailed as the “greatest coming-of-age film of all time” by fans, and you can watch it on streaming platform, Netflix.
Y tu mamá también (which is Spanish for “And Your Mother Too”) is a Mexican coming-of-age comedy drama road film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who co-wrote the script with his brother Carlos. Cuarón directed the third Harry Potter movie, Prisoner of Azkaban.
The film follows two teenage boys who take a road trip with a woman in her late twenties. It stars Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, and Maribel Verdú, with narration by Daniel Giménez Cacho. The film is set in 1999 against the backdrop of Mexico’s political and economic realities, specifically at the end of the uninterrupted seven decades of presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the rise of the opposition led by Vicente Fox.
The film’s synopsis reads: “The lives of Julio and Tenoch, like those of 17-year-old boys everywhere, are ruled by raging hormones, intense friendships, and a headlong rush into adulthood. Over the course of a summer, the two best friends, while living out a carefree cross-country escapade with a gorgeous older woman, also find connection with each other, themselves and the world around them.”
Y tu mamá también has been universally critically acclaimed and won the Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival. It was also nominated for an Oscar. It has a 90% approval rating from the critics of Rotten Tomatoes who state: “Led by a triumvirate of terrific performances, Alfonso Cuarón’s free-spirited road trip through Mexico is a sexy and wistful hymn to the fleetingness of youth.”
A top critic wrote in their review: “Cuarón is obviously working in well-trod territory, the coming-of-age genre. But everything about the film is so vibrantly conceived that nothing seems familiar.”
One fan said it was “the best international movie ever made”, while another said it was “a masterpiece from Alfonso Cuarón”.
A Reddit writer said it was the “greatest coming-of-age story of all time”.
Y tu mamá también is available to stream on Netflix, right now.