Movie Review: You're Killing Me Susana |The Chronicles of Azu

Friday, March 3, 2017

Movie Review: You're Killing Me Susana

Golden Globe winner Gael García Bernal is a busy man, he currently stars in the Amazon show Mozart in the Jungle, and he has two films currently in theaters, Neruda, and Me Estas Matando Susana (You’re Killing Me Susana.)

In the latter, we meet Eligio (Gael García Bernal) an actor with a wandering eye, and his wife Susana (Veronica Echegui) who has had enough of his infidelities (a theme that plays throughout the film) and left him.

The movie is incredibly relatable, and at times it makes you feel vulnerable and even frustrated. We have all been there, we think we are still in love, and we do whatever it takes to hold on to a relationship that is no longer fulfilling or beneficial to either.

After Susana leaves him, Eligio goes ballistic trying to find her, and thanks to the wonders of some internet search and investigative skills he finds out that Susana is in Iowa at a University for a writer's workshop. Susana left him to find herself as a writer, to enjoy the solitude that comes with being recently single (although she does benefit from the company of a fellow student, Slawormir.) However, Eligio, like the macho that he is is not going down without a fight, and he leaves his beloved Mexico behind, and his acting career to follow Susan all the way to Iowa. The journey to find her and the trials and tribulations that come with their reunion make the film worth watching.

Eligio and Susana’s relationship is toxic, their dynamic is borderline harmful to their personalities, and the movie takes us on the journey of their dysfunctional dynamic. Is it worth pursuing? Should they be together? You will find the answers to these and other critical questions about their love story in the film.

The movie is out now with showings in Berkeley at Shattuck Cinemas and San Francisco at the Roxie.