Gueros

This slacker odyssey is another high-water mark for Mexican cinema. The title is a diss (meaning ‘light-skinned’) and the movie addresses the challenge of social cohesion as a teenager joins his older brother in Mexico City. He arrives during the 1999 student strike over raised tuition fees, although his brother declares himself ‘on strike from the strike’ (that doesn’t stop him chasing after a female activist).

From there, the plot – such as it is – drifts into the search for a legendary protest singer cherished by the boys and their late father. First-time director Alonso Ruizpalacios loves a good tease however, and we never hear any of this supposedly inspirational music. His film is swooningly in thrall to the black-and-white early 1960s movies of Jean-Luc Godard. And its moodswings – from romantic daydreams to social observation and slow-burning humour – add up to a bewitching debut.