Cassandro, 2023.
Directed by Roger Ross Williams.
Starring Gael García Bernal, Roberta Colindrez, Mark Vasconcellos, Andrea Pazmino, Yavor Vesselinov, Joaquín Cosío, Bad Bunny, Raúl Castillo, Perla de la Rosa, Emily Van Raay, Julieta Ortiz, Yaliza Burgos, Ronald Gonzales-Trujillo, Silvana Jakich, Sofía Félix, Robert Salas, Cinthya Hernández, Gigántico, Carmen Ledesma, and Jorge Andrés Zerecero.
SYNOPSIS:
Follows the true story of Cassandro, the ”exotico” character created by Saúl Armendáriz, gay amateur wrestler from El Paso who rose to international stardom.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Cassandro wouldn’t exist.
Despite the inherent homoeroticism of men and women acting out a scripted fight in either tights or spandex, typically rolling around the mat while putting each other in submission holds and covered in each other’s sweat, gay wrestlers were often stigmatized several decades ago. Taking place in the 1980s, Cassandro (directed by Roger Ross Williams, co-writing alongside David Teague) follows real-life lucha libre Saúl Armendáriz (an outstanding and heartfelt Gael García Bernal, tenderly portraying wanting to be accepted alongside some other thorny desires) as he makes the life-changing, brave decision to embrace his homosexuality as part of his wrestling persona, a character type that has come to be regarded as an exotico, played up as a heel (the bad guy in wrestling terms) to lose and for homophobic crowds to jeer and ridicule.
In these lucha libre circles (Saúl regularly crosses the border from El Paso to Ciudad Juárez, performing in front of small crowds with a burning passion for reaching a higher echelon of popularity), it is often customary to wear a mask, which could be insinuated as hiding something. The beauty of the Cassandro persona that Saúl creates has nothing to do with a mask but changing up his current attire into something that progressively gets more queer with excellent flamboyant costume and makeup design (at one point fashioning an old outfit from his mom into stunningly gay ring-wear.)
It’s no surprise to say that Cassandro is most engaging in the squared circle, not only because these actors (including an appearance from Bad Bunny who has committed himself to put in the work, impressing on WWE shows) re-create some fluid, organic, and believable ring work (complete with a montage where the matches get a little more hardcore), but for an equally authentic crowd-pleasing feeling of watching these audiences come to embrace a gay wrestler.
As Cassandro shines in the ring with flexibility, aerial athleticism, and wielding homosexuality as part of the show his character puts on the ring (similar to WWE’s Goldust back in the late 1990s, except not played for laughs as something to mock), he slowly gets the people behind him. It also helps that he is given some flashy entrances set to Spanish covers of popular pop songs of the era and is always refining the uniqueness and gayness of his appearance and ring attire. There is also a moving, Western-influenced original score from Marcelo Zarvos.)
Some shortcomings come in admirably exploring Saúl’s complicated personal life. He is the bastard child of a homophobic father who ended up abandoning him and his mother, Yocasta (Perla De La Rosa), upon learning that he is gay. That relationship with his mother is sweet and close, but not without occasional glimpses of resentment that she essentially lost the man she loved over her son’s sexuality, going as far as driving around town and observing him. It sometimes feels as if the narrative is pulling punches, disinterested in further exploring the friction that might be there, which is understandable considering his mother was still arguably the most important person in his life, with his aspirations to become a superstar partially due to wanting to buy themselves a luxurious home with a swimming pool.
There are also rushed elements in the back half that, unfortunately, don’t carry the emotional body slam they should. This involves a friendship with Saúl’s new trainer, Sabrina, as played by Roberta Colindrez (with the two of them also putting on some mixed-gender tag-team matches in the previously mentioned montage), past and present details about his family life, and a burgeoning but problematic relationship with married man and wrestler Gerardo (Raúl Castillo.) There are some full-circle circumstances regarding this intensifying love (alongside some passionately crafted lovemaking scenes), but the entire knotty dynamic feels like an afterthought, even if the performances are undeniably compelling.
It’s also pleasant to report that over the past 15 years or so, many of the largest professional wrestling companies have embraced diversity (I believe that quite possibly the greatest wrestler working today, Kenny Omega, is bisexual), but that doesn’t make this story and Cassandro any less refreshing and important. There is ugliness in observing how bigoted wrestling used to be, but beauty in watching a small transition to embracing gay talent, anchored by a superb Gael García Bernal in and outside the squared circle.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Originally published September 13, 2023. Updated September 12, 2023.
