A Film Lover’s Guide to Mexico City

Aside from the two main cinema chains in Mexico, Cinemex and Cinépolis, where can you watch movies in Mexico City? Here are some of our best picks, ranging from the uber-popular to the lesser-known arthouse cinemas in Mexico City.

Plenty of films have been shot in Mexico City, partly or in full, but here are just two of the most influential ones from recent years. If you want to know exactly what to watch before coming to Mexico, check out this guide.

Spectre, the blockbusting James Bond flick, is easily the most internationally recognizable movie to have been filmed in Mexico City in recent years. What’s more, this film was not only influenced by Mexican culture, in the form of Day of the Dead, it also added to Mexico City tradition in a surprising and unexpected way. That huge parade scene in Spectre, complete with dancers, people dressed as skeletons and giant figurines? That was created by the filmmakers, but has now been adopted as a Mexico City tradition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJqxnO8VXMk

Perhaps a lesser known title than Spectre, but no less influential, is the 2000 Mexican classic Amores Perros. Headed up by a then relatively unknown pairing of Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna (you might have heard of them?), Amores Perros showed the seedy underbelly of Mexico City through the use of a lengthy but inventive triple storyline crossover that featured car crashes and dog fights. Fun fact: it was influenced by fellow Mexico City based movie, the Luis Buñuel classic Los Olvidados.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvwk-xYZcr0

There are innumerable filming locations dotted across Mexico City, but we think these are the most interesting and noteworthy spots that film lovers will want to check out.

While Colonia Condesa’s Super Carnicería no longer exists, it once served as the backdrop for the pivotal plot point car crash in the aforementioned Amores Perros. Nowadays, this slice of cinematic intrigue in Mexico City is marked by a plaque commemorating the spot and serves as a reminder that much of that ‘gritty’ Mexico City-based film was actually shot in the swanky Condesa district.

So, it might not seem like a great place to visit (and it isn’t), but it is worth mentioning the Matt Damon’s 2013 film Elysium was shot in and around Mexico City, including on one of the world’s largest rubbish dumps. According to Damon himself, one of the specific spots on the dump was literally called ‘poo river’. Nice. Aside from the rubbish dump, the impoverished cluster of buildings that swell up and over the Mexico City mountains also served as dystopian backdrops in this sci-fi action flick.

Finally, if you’re lucky enough to be in Mexico City during March (which is roughly the time when Gael García Bernal’s popular film festival Ambulante comes rolling through town), then you have to take advantage and catch a few of the always excellent cinematic offerings.

Alternatively, stop by UNAM’s flagship international film festival, known colloquially as FICUNAM, which tends to take place around February each year.