Common Sense Media Review
By Andrea Beach
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Gripping but gory subtitled drama isn't for the squeamish.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Amores Perros
What's the Story?
In AMORES PERROS, a terrible car crash changes the lives and loves of a large cast of characters. Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal) is in love with his sister-in-law and comes up with a horrible way to make enough money to leave town with her. Top supermodel Valeria (Goya Toledo) has to put her career on hold when her leg's badly broken, which puts a huge strain on her relationship with her lover right after they've moved in together. Ex-con and killer-for-hire El Chivo (Emilio Echevarria) lives in squalor while caring for a small pack of dogs. After 20 years, is it too late for him to reach out to his daughter, who thinks he's dead?
Is It Any Good?
Acclaimed director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's first feature, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2001, is as gripping and thought-provoking as it is harsh and hard to watch. He takes an unblinking, cynical look at the ways love can hit you like a head-on collision and leave you as emotionally wounded as the victims of his literal car crash are damaged physically. Violence, blood, and gore abound, against both humans and dogs. But the compelling characters and top-notch acting make the film well worth viewing, if only for mature viewers who can handle the strong content and who aren't at all squeamish.
The now-familiar structure of starting with the crash, going back through events leading up to it, and then moving forward to follow its impact on the large cast, works well here. It manages to build and maintain suspense while keeping the viewer engaged in trying to put the puzzle pieces together. Overall, Amores Perros raises a lot of questions about love and how it treats us, how we treat dogs, how or if we recover when fate deals us a blow, and many more questions worth thinking about.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the violence in Amores Perros. Is there a reason for it here? What about the dog fights? Is it too much? Are your emotions the same whether the victims are animals or people?
How much sex is OK in movies? Do the sex scenes make a point, or are they just for entertainment?
Is the profanity realistic? Why is there such a big difference between how much profanity is in the first half and how much is in the second?
Movie Details
- In theaters : October 5, 2000
- On DVD or streaming : September 25, 2001
- Cast : Gael Garcia Bernal , Emilio Echevarria , Goya Toledo
- Director : Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
- Inclusion Information : Latino Movie Director(s) , Mexican Movie Director(s) , Latino Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Lions Gate
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Animals , Friendship
- Run time : 154 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : Violence/gore, language, and sexuality
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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