Alfonso Cuarón is a filmmaker with a talent for transporting audiences to new places. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (the best in the series), he teleported viewers to a school of magic. With Children of Men, he visited a bleak dystopian scifi future. With Gravity, Cuarón showed us the vastness of outer space. And now, his newest film, Roma, promises to take us on a journey to a very real hidden world: that of Cuarón's childhood in Mexico City.

The story, loosely based on Cuarón's childhood experiences, is centered on Cleo (debut actor Yalitza Aparicio), a maid working for a middle-class family. Cleo, as well as the family that she works for, are each experiencing their own personal triumphs and hardships (more so the latter), and though the two parties' stories tend to parallel, this is undoubtedly Cleo's personal story, through and through.

For a debut performance, Aparacio is absolutely astounding. At a Q&A following the screening I was able to attend, it was revealed that in her hometown, she works as a preschool teacher, and after having meeting her, I definitely believe it. She is sweet and loving, channeling her natural personality into her performance as a caretaker. She has a very maternal bond with the children she cares for, and it's not uncommon for her to put the needs of others ahead of her own. The character of Cleo is just one of many aspects of the narrative that are based on real-life people, settings, and events that Cuarón recalls and attempts to recreate from his childhood. In fact, all of the scenes were either shot on location in Mexico at the exact spot where a specific event occurred, or recreated on sets that were exact replicas of locations that no longer exist. The amount of painstaking attention to detail at hand is unmatched, and easily makes Roma the most personal film of Cuarón's career.

The director's desire to recreate his most fragile memories to such assiduous detail also lends itself to another charming effect: the ability to teach an audience about Mexican life, heritage, and culture. So many of the plot's happenings are rooted in Mexican traditions, but rather than feeling like the viewers are being led on a guided tour with Cuarón holding our hands through it all, it feels natural, because we're experiencing everything through the eyes of the protagonist.

On that note, there is a rather horrific scene of a protest that erupted into a violent riot that holds a frightening grip on the characters and the audience, but the context is rather unclear. I had to look it up after viewing the film, and discovered that this was a true tragedy that occurred on June 10, 1971, wherein a group of student protesters were assaulted and murdered in large numbers by army soldiers. Apparently, this went unexplained because for viewers from Mexico, this tragic event is on the same level of common knowledge that the September 11th attacks are for us. I personally don't consider it a spoiler to clarify the context, just something to help uninitiated viewers stay engaged.

While it doesn't play a significant factor into the execution of the plot, the cinematography is worth noting. Cuarón, as well as acting as director and sole screenwriter, is the eye behind the camera, and he frames the scenery in a very subtle but effective format. When he wants us to take in a new location, he employs a gorgeous wide shot, but when our eyes are being told to follow someone or something specific, pans and tracking shots keep only what's necessary in frame. Cinematography isn't a highly complicated aspect of filmmaking; in fact, every film has it. It's merely the way that the camera tells us what we're supposed to see. But good cinematography that sticks with you is very hard to pull off. It also helps that the film is shot in beautiful black and white, naturally showing off a variety of contrasting light sources.

Roma is a stunningly beautiful film, not simply from a visual perspective, but through the writing as well. To describe the events of the plot wouldn't paint the most uplifting picture, but it feels inspiring to view such authentic hardships through the lens of a protagonist who defines herself by selflessness. Cuarón has managed to craft something truly special out of the workings of his own mind and heart, and I would honestly be shocked if Aparacio wasn't nominated for Best Actress come Oscar season. The film is set for a limited theatrical release on December 14, with a wide distribution on Netflix, but I stand by the opinion that it deserves to be seen on a big screen, by a big crowd. But wherever and however you see it, I give Roma four out of four stars.