I'm No Longer Here

A Mexican film about a subculture. Ulises is seventeen and lives in Monterrey. He belongs to a group called Los Terkos: they all listen to the same music, dress the same way and cut their hair the same. The music is cumbia rebajada: Colombian cumbia slowed down. The records are deliberately dragged and the dancing is built to that speed. The culture is called Kolombia and grew up in the working-class districts of the region. After a misunderstanding Ulises has to leave the city. He goes to New York, settles in a neighbourhood in Queens, and knows neither the language nor anyone there. The subject is not migration but an identity that cannot be carried. In Monterrey Ulises knew what he was; here there is no equivalent. His hair, his clothes and his music make him someone people stare at. The narrative runs two times inside each other. Juan Daniel García Treviño plays Ulises; he is not a professional actor. Fernando Frías de la Parra directed. It was released on a streaming service and won awards in Mexico. A strong example for anyone who likes Latin American cinema and narratives built on music. For a viewer expecting incident, it moves slowly and builds no large conflict.