Critics reviews

Bernal has always been an accomplished leading man with the spirit of a character actor, and his latest provides him with the part for which he’s been waiting, allowing him to demonstrate the range of his ferocity, charm and sensitivity... His magnetism [is] so great that it elevates Williams’ drama above its clunkier, clichéd elements.

Williams nudges the film along from one stale trope to the next like an old frog disinterestedly leaping across lilypads... Cassandro, in other words, has nothing to say and doesn't say it with any particular innovation, either.

Even when "Cassandro" loses some of its emotional momentum as a biopic, it's quite a charming film to look at... Williams has an eye for amazing true stories, and "Cassandro" indicates a promising new course for Williams aside from documentary filmmaking.

In what might be the greatest performance of his career, Gael García Bernal crafts a man made of flesh and desire... the fearlessness and sensitivity he brings to play Saúl / Cassandro as two sides of the same human are a joy.

The reason to watch this, aside from its in-depth look at the world of independent lucha libre, is star Gael García Bernal, who throws himself into this role and the ring, performing a truly impressive series of stunts while celebrating Cassandro’s achievements.

This heartfelt if, at times, slightly uneven drama... is a warm and celebratory film... While Williams strays towards packaging towards the end as he tries to tie up every plot strand a little too neatly, it speaks to the generosity that he feels towards Cassandro and his achievements both in the world of wrestling and as a role model beyond it.

Gael García Bernal nails his best role in years, giving a performance steeped in cheeky humor, resilience and radical self-belief... [An] entertaining biopic, [Cassandro] doubles as a gorgeous depiction of mother-son love and an exhilarating exploration of fearless queer identity in a macho environment.

In Williams’ hands, the laughs never come at Saúl’s expense, ridiculous as this arena might seem to audiences. Luchadores are entertainers, first and foremost, and “Cassandro” celebrates that while taking Armendáriz’s achievements seriously.

Glowing with García Bernal’s magnetism, “Cassandro” balances the triumphant exaltation of Arbendáriz’s singular evolution as a trailblazer who didn’t set out to become one, with the obvious, still not entirely eliminated bigotry that made his trajectory so significant and groundbreaking in the first place.

“Cassandro” is the best possible vehicle for its star Gael García Bernal, who gives an extraordinarily physical performance... This is a triumph for Bernal and for Williams and all his collaborators, a film that takes on very fresh territory and suffuses all of its frames with love for all of the people in it.

“Cassandro” isn’t here to cover every moment of Armendáriz’s life. And there are storylines, especially with his father, that neither Williams or his co-screenwriter, David Teague, can bring to a satisfying conclusion. But as a portrait of a man finding himself in his profession? Of celebrating his true self? It’s extraordinary.