I CARRY YOU WITH ME (TE LLEVO CONMIGO)

Heidi Ewing | Mexico & USA | 2020 | 111 min | SPANISH S.-T.EN.

I Carry You with Me (en) : The instant chemistry in an underground gay bar between Iván Garcia and Gerardo Zabaleta (embodied by the real-life men in the present and actors Armando Espitia and Christian Vazquez in flashbacks) turns into a harrowing tale of complicated timing and seizing opportunity, which eventually ‘crosses over’ from Puebla, Mexico to New York City.

Iván must make the painful choice of leaving Gerardo and family members behind in pursuit of his American Dream of culinary success, taking his childhood best friend, Sandra (Michelle Rodríguez), with him in a harrowing attempt at illegally entering the United States. Eventually, 14 years turns to 20, and Iván is still separated from some of those he left behind, leading him to the precipice of making yet another gut-wrenching choice. With blockbuster visuals honed by Mexican cinematographer Juan Pablo Ramírez, I Carry You with Me slides through time in stunning elisions and subtly shifting genres, from romance to thriller to documentary realism. This is a groundbreaking piece of epic cinema employing a canvas large and assured enough to capture the whole broad sweep of the immigrant experience, with unforgettable protagonists who want, simply, to “just live.”