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ROMA

"Family Is Strength"

NoneLightModerateHeavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

ROMA is a touching drama from Alfonso Cuarón (the director of GRAVITY and CHILDREN OF MEN) about a family in 1970s Mexico City. Created as a tribute of sorts to Cuarón’s childhood in Mexico, ROMA is a narrative from one maid’s viewpoint. Cleo, a young girl, works for Sofia and Antonio, helping them clean, cook and take care of their four children. All four children adore Cleo, who treats the children as if they’re her own. When Cleo becomes pregnant from a no-good young man who abandons her, she must prepare for motherhood. Making matters more complicated, Sofia’s husband leaves the family for his mistress. So, Cleo must help keep the family together amid her own struggles.

For the typical moviegoer, it must be stressed that ROMA is a slow-moving, foreign language, arthouse flick. With black and white cinematography, no soundtrack, and no recognizable faces, Cuarón strips away everything flashy. The result is a very human story of family, love, grief, and guilt. ROMA does have some strong foul language and an extended scene of full-frontal male nudity. So, extreme caution is advised.

Content:

(BB, C, AC, LL, VV, S, NNN, AA, D, M)

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Strong moral themes of familial and motherly love, and a scathing but morally righteous critique of men who abandon their families, with some light Christian content that includes prayer in two different scenes, plus some moral anti-totalitarian content where government is seizing land from citizens which is portrayed negatively;

Foul Language:
Ten obscenities (including four “f” words) and four profanities (including one GD);

Violence:
A protest breaks into a riot and people are shot by thugs with guns, a woman gives birth, a baby is born stillborn;

Sex:
Implied sex, passionate kissing, woman becomes pregnant outside of marriage, and adultery where man abandons family for his mistress;

Nudity:
Male frontal and rear nudity in one extended scene;

Alcohol Use:
Moderate drinking and some drunkenness;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
Smoking of cigarettes; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:
Dysfunctional family elements, married man abandons his children and wife, but it’s rebuked, the country where the story occurs has a rigid class system, but it’s rebuked, and man abandons girlfriend when she becomes pregnant, but it’s rebuked.

More Detail:

ROMA is a touching drama from Alfonso Cuarón (GRAVITY, CHILDREN OF MEN) about a family in 1970s Mexico City. Created as a tribute of sorts to Cuarón’s childhood in Mexico, ROMA is a stripped-down narrative of one maid’s viewpoint. Cleo, a young girl, works for Sofia and Antonio, helping them clean, cook and take care of their four children, all of whom adore Cleo, who treats the children as if they’re her own. Antonio is a doctor, who is always traveling.

Cleo begins dating a young man who’s the cousin of another maid’s boyfriend. At first it seems like the young man, Fermin, is kind, but after becoming sexually active and getting pregnant, Fermin disappears. Clearly terrified at the prospect of being pregnant, Cleo tells her employer Sofia, who then takes her to the doctor to make sure she’s healthy. Meanwhile, Sofia becomes aware that her husband Antonio is leaving the family to run off with a mistress.

As the movie progresses and Cleo becomes more and more pregnant, the cultural and political backdrop in Mexico increases. Multiple individuals reference the government seizing private property. In one very tense moment, a protest breaks into a riot right in front of a baby store where Cleo’s shopping for cribs.

For the typical moviegoer, it must has to be stressed that ROMA is a slow-moving, foreign language arthouse flick. With black and white cinematography, no soundtrack, and no recognizable faces, Cuarón strips away everything flashy. The result is a very human story of family, love, grief, and guilt, with a light criticism of social classism. Cuarón’s most incredible feat is his direction of actors like Yalitza Aparicio, who portrays Cleo, and who had never acted before this movie. His ability to guide these inexperienced screen actors through long takes, tackling complex emotions on cue is truly remarkable. In addition to serving as the writer, director and producer, Cuarón also served as the cinematographer and co-editor on ROMA, giving him complete control to deliver stunning visuals.

Multiple moments in ROMA grab at the heartstrings, but other scenes are just too long and sometimes even pretentious. This is not unlike many European arthouse movies which influenced ROMA.

The movie’s worldview is primarily moral, with a strong celebration of familial and motherly love, and a scathing critique of men who abandon their families to pursue their own lusts and selfish desires. While there’s clearly political unrest happening in the backdrop of the story, the movie never delves into it. ROMA has some strong foul language and an extended scene of full frontal male nudity. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


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