For all its enthusiastic vulgarity and truly terrible punk rock, We Are Mari Pepa is a gently endearing portrait of four amiable Mexican teenagers feeling their way toward adulthood.
Though individual scenes feel authentic, the overall structure’s rather loose and there’s not a single narrative throughline. This has several advantages... But it also somewhat diffuses the film’s focus.
63
Slant MagazineClayton Dillard
Slant MagazineClayton Dillard
The film finally works because of its multitudinous interests in adolescent shell-shock, where paralysis and uncertainty can only be momentarily assuaged through gendered outrage.
40
The DissolveAndrew Lapin
The DissolveAndrew Lapin
The film is fitfully amusing but a bit too shapeless, even for a story about slackers.