Mexican movies you need to watch: El Jeramías

I love a good movie. Or a good show. Or a good book. Really, I just want a compelling story to sink my teeth into. I also believe that consuming stories from other cultures is a great way to get to know them, and to practice the language while you’re at it!

So since I am obviously very excited about Mexico in general, I really enjoy seeking out Mexican movies and shows. Over my years as a writer here, I’ve reviewed several films: Que Viva Mexico, TK, TK…I even made a list of some Mexican TV recommendations! According to my editor, it’s one of my most-read articles from the past year.

Which gave me an idea. I’m watching all of this stuff anyway — could I write reviews of what I see? 

Well kids, we’re about to find out. I hope everyone reads it and comments on it and that my editor says, “Gee, this is a hit! We will pay you now to watch Mexican TV and movies and give us your clever and quirky interpretations.” [EDITORS NOTE: Good luck with that.]

So let’s divide this up into sections. We’ll address what the movie is about and the general arc of the story. We’ll talk about the characters. We’ll talk about the things that make them very, very Mexican and what the story says about Mexican culture. 

Today’s movies is one of the favorites I’ve seen recently, a 2015 movie by director Anwar Safa and writer Ana Sofia Clerici, El Jeramías. I discovered it by chance one day on Netflix and liked it immediately.

What it’s about

Caution: Spoilers ahead!

El Jeramías tells the story of an eight-year-old boy in Sonora who lives with his young parents, grandmother, teenage uncle, and great-grandmother. He is precocious and adorable and truly just trying his best to get through childhood.

His family gathers on the sofa to watch soap operas, and he watches with them. Church ladies come to the house to give communion to the mute great-grandmother, and he peppers them with questions. All of the adults in his life say things that make little logical sense, and he questions them — not in an “I’m smarter than you and I’m going to poke holes in what you say to make you feel dumb” sort of way — but in a way that makes it clear that he truly wants to understand. The film could have easily veered off into “I’m surrounded by eeediots!” territory, but it didn’t. Jeramías loves his family.

The film begins by displaying the IQs of the different family members at different points, usually after they’ve said something dumb. Jeramías, however, is a true genius. As you can imagine, things don’t go well for him in his public school. But when he befriends two older men who play chess outside of a bookstore, things change. One of the men goes to meet his parents and asks if he might take Jeramías to be tested. His mother finally gives permission, and they soon find out he has an IQ of 160.

This sets Jeramías on an urgent mission of self-discovery: what does he want to be when he grows up? He writes to the author of a book on child geniuses in Mexico and narrates his exploration. He prints pictures of, in turn, Albert Einstein, Jim Morrison, Bobby Fischer, Marie Curie, and Alan Turing, and explores following in their footsteps one by one.

Finally, the author of the book shows up to his house. He asks the parents for permission to take him to Mexico City for a special event, and to let him and them be included in a documentary about child geniuses. Jeramías is happy to go. “I’m most excited about making friends with kids like me,” he says.

Mexican archetypes

One thing I loved about the film is that it presents different types of characters from all over Mexico. It wasn’t glossy and glamorous, but it wasn’t a spectacle of the misery of the poor, either. Here are some notable characters:

The parents. Both of his parents are quite young. The mother aspires to ” do something important,” and works to finish her high school degree even though the father thinks it’s a waste of time. She spends her days doing housework and cooking. The father is clearly the less smart of the two and works at a store. He is not a deep thinker, and is happy to not question the way things are, taking everything as it comes. Despite his apparent lack of intelligence, he is “head of the household.” When he realizes that Jeramías’ genius might make them some money he is proud of his son rather than embarrassed by his oddities.

The extended family. He and his parents live with his young grandmother, her son — his teenaged uncle — and the great-grandmother. The grandmother is unquestioning in her religiosity, often telling Jeramías, with his mother, that he shouldn’t question certain things. (“Have you noticed that no one ever says anything bad about the dead?” Jeramías asks. “Maybe he’s gay,” the dad tells them.) The great-grandmother, and one of the characters with a higher IQ, is a silent presence for most of the movie. She mostly just hangs around the house drinking Tecate beer.

The older friends. Jeramías’ only friends are two men well into their 60s. One is a Spaniard who owns a bookstore, and the other, is a Mexican patron who plays chess with them. Jeramías first meets them when he “hides” behind them, seeking protection from bullies. The Spaniard is the one who takes him in for testing, and serves as his only real peer in the movie. They discuss books and philosophy, and he is one of the only people to whom Jeramías can ask questions and get honest, thoughtful answers.

The bullies. Jeramías’ uncle, after his genius has been discovered, takes him to hang out with his friends with the hidden motive of forcing him to do all of their homework. The friends are the bullies he had run from before. They feel superior in being able to take advantage of him, but Jeramías quickly decides to abandon their company.

The Mexico City crowd. The dominant character here is the author who visits Jeramías and takes him back to stay with him and meet the other child geniuses. All of the other children are from rich families with super-involved intellectual parents. This is Jeramías’ first exposure to the intellectual, upper-class world of urban Mexico.

Lo muy mexicano (a few cultural touchstones to look out for)

• The family unit: living with one’s extended family, especially when there aren’t a lot of resources to go around, is common. Jeramías shares a room with his teenage uncle. “Where one eats, two can eat” is a common Mexican saying.
• The school system: like most kids in Mexico, Jeramías goes to public school. His teacher is young and does not enjoy being questioned. His mother, and later Jeramías, is going through “prepa abierta,” or distance learning, in order to get her high school degree. There are only a few special (private) schools for kids that are geniuses in Mexico, and they can only be found in major urban areas.
• The community: Jeramías lives in a mid-sized, unglamorous town where most people seem to know most other people. 

Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.