From start to finish, it is impossible to know what is real or not. The typical telenovela sets and sound stages of the 80's provide an eerie artificiality that adds to the paranoia and confusion Alex is experiencing. Again thanks to the wonderful directing of Violante, the trippy and strange premise of blurring reality and fiction goes beyond what you expect. I have been wanting to watch this for at least a year and I finally got to today and now I can say it is easily one of the best and most creative Mexican movies out there. Never boring or predictable, even when the action is spelled out, it's always thrilling to watch play out. There are noticeable overlaps between this and The Truman show which deals with essentially the same premise of an actor having their life filmed for television unbeknownst to them. There is an overbearing show runner who plays god in this case, the director played by Junco and a rebellion by the star of the tv show. I much prefer Misterio to The Truman Show though as there is a much more direct and psychological approach here that can't be replicated. I would urge any fans of The Truman Show to give this film a watch on youtube. Here lies another forgotten gem that hopefully is discovered by more people.
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