Parents' Guide to México 86

This dramedy has a clear viewpoint: Ambition can look inspiring until it starts hurting people along its path. México 86 follows Martín de la Torre, a man who once believed that being good at his job might be enough, and then learned how easily bureaucracy rewards the shameless. Director Gabriel Ripstein gives his rise a picaresque, tall-tale energy, with some Wolf of Wall Street swagger and real sadness underneath. Luna keeps Martín easy to root for even when he does terrible things, playing him as charming and desperate, still lit by the innocence of someone who genuinely loves soccer. Ripstein understands how much hope the World Cup brought to Mexico after the 1985 earthquake, but he also understands how quickly corruption seeped into that hope.

Karla Souza brings gravitas and spark to Susana, though the movie leaves her with less agency than she deserves, mostly as the person who shows Martín what betrayal costs. The earthquake raises the emotional stakes, especially when Martín convinces FIFA that Mexico can still host the tournament, a moment that feels almost too incredible to be true (in a film filled with several of those moments). That works with the film's tall-tale quality, as if this were a story already headed for legend. Still, the movie moves so fast that it doesn't always stay in the mind after it ends, and anyone looking for the full magic of that World Cup may get more from watching Maradona highlights. As a film about the machinery behind soccer, though, it has wit and bite, with Luna's big aching heart at the center.