I guess what really irritates me about all the complaining regarding the lack of expanded theatrical distribution for Cuaron’s latest is that it reduces its achievements to purely visual ones. Yes, the movie looks amazing, and, no shit, it’ll look better on a big screen than on your iPad. But even if you ended up watching it on your iPhone, it would work. Because it’s more than the format it was shot in. It’s got heart. 

Growing up, I met a few Cleos. I was a kid, so I never gave a second thought to their stories, their lives. What it’s like to leave your village and move to the big city to take care of someone else’s children. To be part of a family but not really a member of it. Yalitza Aparicio manages to speak volumes while turning in one of the most understated performances of the year. She carries the movie in a deceptively quiet way. And Cuarón, no surprise, directs the hell out of it. Is this his best? Probably. I need to rewatch Y TU MAMÁ before knowing for sure.

But it’s a must-see. On your phone, on your laptop, on your smart TV, on one of those lucky theaters if you live near one. However you can. And not because it’s one of the best photographed movies of the year (which it is) but because it’s a story about people and connection and humanity. And those are the greatest when in the hands of a master storyteller.