Movie Review - I'm No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aqui)

This is the official submission from Mexico for Best International Feature at the 93rd Academy Awards. It won 10 Ariel Awards, which are Mexico's equivalent to the Oscars. Among its Ariel Awards include Breakthrough Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Direction and Best Picture. Despite all that, it probably won't make it into the upcoming Oscars like Roma (2018) did. Roma was the previous Ariel Award winner. Writer-director Fernando Frias (Los Espookys) follows a teenage boy living in poverty and practically on the streets, as he paints a picture of what Mexican youth, both in this country and in their native country, have to do as they struggle to survive. Frias wants to depict how immigrants, undocumented or not, are not the stereotypes that a lot people assume. He also wants to shine a light on Cumbia culture.

Cumbia is actually a style of music and kind of dance. A culture formed around the love of that music and dance. Teenagers who love it have developed a hairstyle and fashion sense that is unique and all their own. Those teens call the culture "kolombia." It confuses some into thinking they're saying Colombia, which is the name of a South American country, which has its own Cumbia culture. However, Cumbia for these Mexican teens is very specific and unique to them. The look and the sound is very specific and they get upset if it gets confused. For starters, the teens wear baggy clothes, which is reminiscent of American hip hop fashion back in the late 1980's and early 90's. The boys typically put gel in their hair to make it spiky, tall and spiky to the point that someone compares it to Dragon Ball Z. Their hair is distinct because they also have long spiky side-burns that look like knives dangling on the left and right of their heads. What's equally important though is the music and the dance.

Juan Daniel Garcia Treviño makes his feature debut as Ulises Sampiero. Ulises has a family, a mother and some siblings, but the majority of his time is spent hanging out on the streets of Monterrey, which is in northern Mexico about three hours from the Texas border. When he does hang out on the streets, he is the leader of a gang of other teens called the "Terkos." It's revealed that Ulises' older brother who is currently in prison started the gang. It's not exactly clear, but, after witnessing a drive-by shooting of fellow gang members, Ulises becomes afraid for his life, so he decides to go on the run. He decides to cross the U.S. border illegally and not settle in Texas, which is the closest. He goes all the way to Queens, New York.

The film then jumps back-and-forth, depicting Ulises' time in Mexico before he fled with his time in Queens as he tries to make a life for himself or just simply survive. It's difficult because of the language barrier. He doesn't speak a word of English, which makes his interactions with Americans impossible and frustrating. When the people with whom he traveled to New York get into a fight with him, Ulises is forced to be a homeless. We then get a true sense of isolation and desperation, as he attempts to keep his head above water, drifting from day to day, subsisting on whatever he can and taking help from whoever he can. It's a stark and depressing portrait, but it's one that hopefully will open people's eyes to see that just because he might be a gang member, he's not the thug that some might call him.

Ya No Estoy Aquí.
Rated TV-MA.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 52 mins.

Available on Netflix.