We predict this could be up for Best Actor at the next Academy Awards.
There are some major 2024 Oscar contenders still on the horizon, but Cassandro is one of the very first that you can now watch at home. When we predicted the shortlist of contenders that Cillian Murphy might find himself up against for Best Actor next year, Cassandro was one of the first movies that we mentioned.
The movie tells the true story of Cassandro, the ''exotico'' character created by Saúl Armendáriz (Gael Garcia Bernal - Old, Werewolf By Night), a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso who rose to international stardom.
Written and directed by Roger Ross Williams (who, coincidentally, has new Apple TV+ documentary The Super Models debuting this weekend), the movie also stars Bad Bunny, literally one of the biggest musicians in the world right now.
Cassandro received some incredible reviews upon release
The movie debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, before proceeding to continue around the world on a festival tour. Prime Video gave it a short stint in American cinemas - a necessity for any movie wanting Oscar consideration - and at the time of writing, the movie has scored 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Film Stage - "Cassandro is a love letter to anyone who dares to be different by being themselves in a world that truly could do with more glitter and sequins."
San Francicsco Chronicle - "Cassandro takes place in an inherently goofy arena - this is over-the-top, stagey fighting, after all - but the filmmakers avoided the temptations of cheap laughs and produced a satisfying dramatic story that will appeal to both fans and non-fans of this outlandish wrestling genre. That’s a rope move worth cheering for."
The Wrap - "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 is available to watch on Prime Video right now.
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