Film Forum

A Mexico City suburb, circa mid-1980s: A motley pair of underachievers (Gael Garcia Bernal and Leonardo Ortizgris) pull themselves away from video games long enough to hatch a scheme – a Christmas Eve museum heist to remove priceless ancient Mexican artifacts that are so unmistakable, they prove impossible to fence. Inspired by the true story of the largest heist in Mexico’s history and shot in the never-before-filmed National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios (GÜEROS, which Film Forum premiered in 2015), winner of the Silver Bear award for Best Screenplay at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival, and with supporting performances from Chilean actor Alfredo Castro (TONY MANERO, NERUDA) and British actor Simon Russell Beale (THE DEATH OF STALIN).

MEXICO  2018    128  MINS.    VITAGRAPH FILMS

Reviews

Read the Los Angeles Times feature on Bernal & Ruizpalacios.

“There is a touch of magic in MUSEO, a sense of wonder and curiosity that imparts palpable excitement. Some of that is the intimation of a strong and original cinematic voice evolving toward the realization of its full potential – the feeling that you might be in the presence of someone who could become the next great Mexican filmmaker.”
– A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“MUSEO is in part a caper film, a heist film, and while it leans on such classics as TOPKAPI and RIFIFI the robbery has its own signature and is done in a visual style that's hypnotic.”
– John Anderson, The Wall Street Journal

“Gorgeous, giddy, made of dazzle and wit and melancholy ... fabulously entertaining. It's not every director who could take Hitchcock, Looney Tunes, RIFIFI, The Doors and Bresson in his bouncy stride. We've had our hearts a little bit stolen, too: the perfect heist.”
– Jessica Kiang, Variety

“An endlessly entertaining, challenging investigation of history that confirms Ruizpalacios' status as the next big thing in Mexican cinema.”
– Bradley Warren, The Playlist