19 Best Mexican Movies on Netflix (2022)

1. I’m No Longer Here (Ya no estoy aquí)

Gorgeous, touching tale of a teen immigrant from Monterrey, Mexico.

In 2011, 17-year-old Ulises leads a gang called Los Terkos dedicated to the Kolombia or Cholombiano subculture. This lifestyle consists of dancing and listening to cumbia rebajada, a slowed-down version of Colombian cumbia. Los Terkos dress in bright, baggy clothes and sport homemade, eccentric hairdos.

After a misunderstanding with a local cartel, Ulises flees to the immigrant community of Jackson Heights, Queens to save his life.

This absorbing story is told in flashbacks. The nonprofessional actors bring great authenticity to the dialogue as well as the dance scenes.

Stick around for the end of the credits for behind-the-scenes footage of the young actors.

Some slang you’ll hear:

• sobres – Northern Mexican slang for “OK” or “Right on!”
• al chile – Mexican slang for “for real” or “seriously”
• morro(a) – Northern Mexican slang for “kid” or “dude.” Está morro means someone is young.

2. Noche de fuego (Prayers for the Stolen)

Poignant, haunting drama about three girls coming of age in a mountain village in Guerrero menaced by the drug trade and human trafficking.

Mexico’s entry for Best International Film in the 2021 Academy Awards.

Adapted from the beautiful and heartbreaking English-language novel of the same name. Get it from your local library.

3. Güeros

Inventive retro-style film that follows three restless young people cruising the streets of Mexico City during the 1999 student strikes in a search for their childhood idol, an enigmatic folk singer. Whimsical, with striking cinematography.

Güero is Mexican slang for “whitey.” The movie often references the disparity in skin color between fair Tomás and his brother Sombra (meaning “shade”), played by the talented Tenoch Huerta, one of the few moreno Mexican film stars.

4. Roma

This Oscar-winning Netflix epic directed by Alfonso Cuarón delivers a vivid, emotional portrait of domestic life and social hierarchy set against Mexico’s political turmoil of the 1970s.

If you loved Roma, you can also watch the making-of documentary.

5. Lorena, la de pies ligeros (Lorena, Light-Footed Woman)

^{No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer. Click to watch trailer on Netflix.}

This beautiful 28-minute documentary short tells the incredible story of Mexican runner Lorena Ramírez, who wins international ultramarathons in traditional dress and sandals.

Lorena lives a pastoral life in the mountains of Chihuahua as part of the indigenous Rarámuri community, also known as the Tarahumara. The Rarámuri are famed for their extraordinary long-distance running skills. The very word rarámuri means “light-footed.”

Some dialogue in Rarámuri.

6. Una película de policías (A cop movie)

Original docudrama with a postmodern twist that delves into corruption in the Mexico City police through the eyes of two officers.

7. Hasta los dientes (Armed to the Teeth)

8. Una historia de dos cocinas (A Tale of Two Kitchens)

This feel-good half-hour film takes an inspiring look at two celebrated sister restaurants on different sides of the US-Mexico border.

Set in both Mexico City and San Francisco, the documentary short explores the ways in which a restaurant can serve as a place of dignity and close-knit community.

9. Nadie sabrá nunca (No One Will Ever Know)

A mother and young son escape into a magical world of their imagination listening to radio plays and watching movies to transform the drudgery of their lives in rural Mexico.

10. Las tres muertes de Marisela Escobedo (The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo)

This moving documentary examines a mother’s tireless crusade to jail her daughter’s murderer after Mexico’s justice system failed to do so.

11. La Dictadura Perfecta

Hilarious Mexican box-office smash by the director of Infierno about political corruption and media collusion with the government. The themes of this satire are universal, however. A long film but not a dull moment.

12. 07:19 La Hora del Temblor

Gritty, claustrophobic survival thriller. After a devastating earthquake hits Mexico City, trapped survivors from all walks of life wait to be rescued while trying desperately to stay alive.

The film’s title reflects the exact time when the devastating Sept. 19, 1985, Mexico City earthquake began.

13. El Club de los Insomnes

Original rom-com about an insomniac, an aspiring photographer, and a pregnant veterinarian who form a unique friendship during late-night meetings at a 24-hour mini-mart.

14. Ayotzinapa, el Paso de la Tortuga

A documentary about 43 Mexican students forcibly disappeared after being violently detained by police, and the unsatisfactory slow investigation that followed both at state and federal levels.

Oscar-winning Mexican director Guillermo del Toro co-produced the film to ensure these voices are heard.

15. Ahí te encargo (You’ve Got This)

Charming if familiar rom-com about an ad creative and a successful exec with a great marriage — until he wants to be a dad just as her career takes off.

16. Tiempo Compartido (Time Share)

In this edgy dark comedy, two paranoid men join forces to rescue their families from a tropical paradise, after becoming convinced that an American timeshare conglomerate has a sinister plan to take their loved ones away.

17. Todas las pecas del mundo (All the Freckles in the World)

^{No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer. Click to watch trailer on Netflix.}

Cute if predictable coming-of-age comedy set in Mexico City.

Thirteen-year-old José Miguel is immune to 1994 World Cup fever until he realizes soccer is the only way to win the heart of his crush.

18. Un abrazo de tres minutos (A 3 Minute Hug)

This powerful 28-minute documentary captures the joy and heartbreak of families separated by the US-Mexico border sharing a short, bittersweet reunion in 2018.

Executive-produced by Gael Garcia Bernal.

19. Como caído del cielo

^{No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer. Click to watch trailer on Netflix.}

Light-hearted Mexican comedy. To earn his place in heaven, legendary Mexican movie star Pedro Infante is sent back to Earth in an impersonator’s body to mend his womanizing ways.

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