El Secreto del Río (2024)

I give a big five for this wonderful series. What is the series about, to put it simply like Solange in the movie "you are who you are". Fantastic series about keeping a friendship, even if that person has changed after years and goes against what society expects.
I thought La Bruja de Texcoco was a wonderful actor, he actually played himself, a Muxe, a man who likes to dress up as a woman. But like everywhere and certainly in Mexico, that is almost nowhere accepted, incomprehensible.
By the way La Bruja de Texcoco makes great music. https://youtu.be/BNI1RDEHiJI?si=h7Vmdotc6_vDVEDA
A well-deserved 8.2 on imbd.

Translated from Dutch · View original

Trans hatred encourages abuse. Maybe Netflix falls short in terms of arthouse films, but it's cool that you have an impressive catalogue of non-Western productions. For example, I enjoyed 'El Secreto del Río' (2024) as an atmospheric sketch of the ambiguous approach to transsexuality in the city of Juchitán. The so-called 'muxes' (men who dress as women) are quite openly present in the street scene and local traditions. But social expectations determine that they provide care tasks or guide young men through their first sexual experiences. The young Manuel (Frida Sofía Cruz Salinas) becomes fascinated by this wonderful community in the background. Could it be that he himself would like to be a 'muxe'? And what does this realization mean for his dear boyhood friendship with Erik (Mauro Guzmán)? A dramatic event separates Manuel and Erik.

Back in Juchitán, Manuel has changed her name to Sicarù and no longer doubts who she is. Her dreamy memories of the 'muxes' are disrupted by the harsh reality of exclusion, xenophobia and sexual exploitation. Even her former childhood friend Erik (Diego Calva) has now turned his back on her new identity. It makes 'El Secreto del Río' (2024) a colorful tearjerker that delivers hard emotional punches and definitely makes you think about what it means to be trans in such a closed community. Some storylines do feel a bit far-fetched, such as the new stranger with a big secret and the little boy in the house. But 'El Secreto del Río' (2024) always manages to return to the friction between Sicarù and Erik. Can they bridge their differences to revive that friendship!? Or will something more blossom?

Translated from Dutch · View original