Roma

With his eighth and most personal film, Alfonso Cuarón recreated the early-1970s Mexico City of his childhood, narrating a tumultuous period in the life of a middle-class family through the experiences of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio, in a revelatory screen debut), the indigenous domestic worker who keeps the household running. Charged with the care of four small children abandoned by their father, Cleo tends to the family even as her own life is shaken by personal and political upheavals. Written, directed, shot, and coedited by Cuarón, Roma is a labor of love with few parallels in the history of cinema, deploying monumental black-and-white cinematography, an immersive soundtrack, and a mixture of professional and nonprofessional performances to shape its author’s memories into a world of enveloping texture, and to pay tribute to the woman who nurtured him.

Film Info

  • United States, Mexico
  • 2018
  • 135 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 2.39:1
  • Mixtec, Spanish
  • Spine #1014

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • 4K digital master, supervised by director Alfonso Cuarón, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack
  • Road to “Roma,” a new documentary about the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with Cuarón
  • Snapshots from the Set, a new documentary featuring actors Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira, producers Gabriela Rodríguez and Nicolás Celis, production designer Eugenio Caballero, casting director Luis Rosales, executive producer David Linde, and others
  • New documentaries about the film’s sound and postproduction processes, featuring Cuarón; Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay, and Craig Henighan from the postproduction sound team; editor Adam Gough; postproduction supervisor Carlos Morales; and finishing artist Steven J. Scott
  • New documentary about the film’s ambitious theatrical campaign and social impact in Mexico, featuring Celis and Rodríguez 
  • Trailers
  • Alternate French subtitles and Spanish SDH
  • PLUS: Essays by novelist Valeria Luiselli, historian Enrique Krauze, and writing by author Aurelio Asiain, along with production-design images with notes by Caballero

New cover by Neil Kellerhouse

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • 4K digital master, supervised by director Alfonso Cuarón, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack
  • Road to “Roma,” a new documentary about the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with Cuarón
  • Snapshots from the Set, a new documentary featuring actors Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira, producers Gabriela Rodríguez and Nicolás Celis, production designer Eugenio Caballero, casting director Luis Rosales, executive producer David Linde, and others
  • New documentaries about the film’s sound and postproduction processes, featuring Cuarón; Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay, and Craig Henighan from the postproduction sound team; editor Adam Gough; postproduction supervisor Carlos Morales; and finishing artist Steven J. Scott
  • New documentary about the film’s ambitious theatrical campaign and social impact in Mexico, featuring Celis and Rodríguez 
  • Trailers
  • Alternate French subtitles and Spanish SDH
  • PLUS: Essays by novelist Valeria Luiselli, historian Enrique Krauze, and writing by author Aurelio Asiain, along with production-design images with notes by Caballero

New cover by Neil Kellerhouse

Roma
Cast
Yalitza Aparicio
Cleo
Marina de Tavira
Sra. Sofía
Diego Cortina Autrey
Toño
Carlos Peralta
Paco
Marco Graf
Pepe
Daniela Demesa
Sofi
Nancy García
Adela
Véronica García
Sra. Teresa
Andy Cortés
Ignacio
Fernando Grediaga
Sr. Antonio
Jorge Antonio Guerrero Martínez
Fermín
José Manuel Guerrero Mendoza
Ramón
Víctor Resendez, "Latin Lover"
Professor Zovek
Zarela Lizbeth Chinolla Arellano
Dr. Vélez
José Luis López Gómez
Pediatrician
Edwin Mendoza Ramírez
Resident doctor
Clementina Guadarrama
Benita
Enoc Leaño
Politician
Nicolás Peréz Taylor Félix
Beto Pardo
Kjartan Halvorsen
Ove Larsen
Credits
Director
Alfonso Cuarón
Written by
Alfonso Cuarón
Producer
Gabriela Rodríguez
Producer
Alfonso Cuarón
Producer
Nicolás Celis
Executive producer
Jeff Skoll
Executive producer
David Linde
Executive producer
Jonathan King
Director of photography
Alfonso Cuarón
Editor
Alfonso Cuarón
Editor
Adam Gough
Casting director
Luis Rosales
Production designer
Eugenio Caballero
Art director
Carlos Benassini
Art director
Oscar Tello
Set decorator
Barbara Enriquez
Costume designer
Anna Terrazas
Music supervisor
Lynn Fainchtein
Sound
José Antonio García
Supervising sound editor
Sergio Diaz
Supervising sound editor
Skip Lievsay
Rerecording mixer
Craig Henighan
Rerecording mixer
Skip Lievsay

Current

Roma, or the Art of Making Ruins
Roma, or the Art of Making Ruins

Alfonso Cuarón’s vivid re-creation of his childhood memories holds up a mirror to the social instability that roiled his hometown in the 1970s.

By Valeria Luiselli

The Layers of Roma
The Layers of Roma

In a polarized and violent world, Alfonso Cuarón’s masterpiece offers a pure message of human solidarity that transcends class and race. But its story is also firmly rooted in the historical specificity of 1970s Mexico City.

By Enrique Krauze

Nothing at Stake
Nothing at Stake

In this video essay, the director of Columbus examines how Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma combines intimate observations of everyday life with the grand sweep of history.

By Kogonada