i don't think there's any way for me to be objective about this film. even being from a different latin american country and having been born decades later, there's so much here reminiscent of my own upbringing (most notably the children's songs, sofi praying to her "guardian angel" before bedtime, and similarities in their house and town to my own) that i can't help but be overwhelmed by nostalgia. i've known selfless and caring women like cleo all my life, and the world has repaid their genuine love with cruelty and hurt more often than not. it's heartbreaking to know i can't make their pain go away, but i can hope to someday craft a love letter of this magnitude to them. i really appreciate cuarón's commitment to portraying compassion and companionship as the life-saving forces they truly are, and i'm thankful he's made me fall in love with cinema all over again at two different points in my life.