Tales of an Immoral Couple

Martina and Rodrigo, who loved each other in school, meet by chance twenty-five years later. Both are married. They restart the affair the same day, and the film works backwards from there to tell how they separated. Manolo Caro wrote and directed. Cecilia Suarez plays Martina, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo plays Rodrigo. The story runs in two times at once, the eighties and the present. The same scene is repeated in both periods, and how much the characters have changed is delivered through that comparison. The tone stays away from moral judgement; the title says so directly and the film neither blesses nor condemns the affair. It did better than expected in Mexico and opened the way to Caro's later series. Cecilia Suarez's performance carries it; the character is both fragile and sardonic. Who it is for: viewers who like Mexican romantic comedy and dual-timeline storytelling. Who it is not for: anyone wary of the subject; infidelity is at the centre.