70
There is plenty to inflame in this picture and nothing to corrupt. [18 Mar 2002. p.152]
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
100
Philadelphia Inquirer by Carrie Rickey
That rare thing, a Hollywood teen flick transfigured into something like pubescent scripture: In the beginning, there was lust; in the end, there is knowledge.
100
Can be taken on many levels, and that's why it works so completely.
90
The eroticism in Cuaron’s road movie (which broke all box-office records in Mexico) is the real deal: tactile, sexy, psychologically charged.
88
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
Like watching an American teen-sex comedy through a glass darkly.
100
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
Echoes the unmistakable freshness and excitement of the Nouvelle Vague, the sense of joy in being alive and making movies, that made those works distinctive and unforgettable.
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey
"You're so lucky to live in Mexico," Luisa says. "Look at it -- it breathes with life." So does Y Tu Mama Tambien, both the pant of passion and shuddering sigh of regret.
90
New York Magazine (Vulture) by Peter Rainer
The funniest and most emotionally charged erotic road movie since Bertrand Blier's "Going Places."
80
If this sounds like an old-fashioned sex comedy, it is -- sexy, for sure, and funny, in wild spurts.
100
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
One of those movies where "after that summer, nothing would ever be the same again." Yes, but it redefines "nothing."
Watching this feels like slipping underwater; it's lulling, memorizing, and funny, and then you reach the end and realize it's broken your heart just a bit.
When I first watched this movie in high school, my only takeaway was a lifelong crush on actor Gael Garcia Bernal. I recently re-watched this film again recently, and realized how stunningly beautiful and realistic this film is. It really captures the nature of the kind of relationship you can only have when your young; where your so incredibly close but also petty and yeah, really stupid. The movie is funny, and definitely deserves its sexy reputation, but its also incredibly thoughtful and heartbreaking. Also, my boy Gael Garcia Bernal is - and always will be - a snack.
I would say that this is probably one of my favorite films of all time, if not my favorite. The cinematography is stunning, and the acting is some of the best I’ve seen. Cuarón’s organic process of filmmaking allows him to construct complex characters who are shaped by both personal and national identity. In doing so, he gives his viewer a realistic lens into a moment of sociopolitical tension in Mexican history.