No matter how you look at it (or where you eventually catch it), there’s no denying that Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma is the motion picture event of the year. Named the top film by critic Manohla Dargis over at the New York Times, cited by the AFI List of Best Films of 2018 with a special award, and already one of the best reviewed movies of the year, Roma is sure to dominate the awards conversation in the run-up to the Oscars next February. Sadly, much of the talk about Cuarón’s black-and-white masterpiece has had to focus on the challenges the movie has faced ahead of its streaming debut on Netflix next month.
Theater chains in the US like AMC and Alamo Drafthouse have refused to book the film citing (among other more technical issues) disagreements with the streaming service over showing a movie on the big screen that’s going to be available on Netflix so soon thereafter. Mexican chains have followed suit, leaving Cuarón’s film to depend on independent theaters across the country.
Amidst all those challenges, here’s a bit of good news: starting December 6 the period drama will be screened at Los Pinos, the longtime residence of the Mexican president that just this month was opened to the public after Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office and kept his promise to not live in the stately home in the Bosque de Chapultepec. The daily screenings will be free and open to the public.
Roma will make its Netflix debut on December 14, 2018. You can find other theatrical screenings of the film in Mexico here.