This film is nominated for at least one Academy Award and when I saw that it was shot in black and white I figured it was going to be another one of those movies that I am not cultured enough to appreciate.

I have known about this film's existence for quite some time but didn't watch it because I am not really a fan of arsty films that have tons of hidden meaning and symbols that define the plot. However, I only presumed this because the film is in black and white and I know that the Academy tends to enjoy nominating films that are "out there" and not generally enjoyed by the masses.

This is not the case with this movie. This one is pretty straight forward and while there are some strange things that happen in the movie that make you wonder what the hell just happened, the dialogue and fantastic acting as well as the truly touching storyline are the reasons why this movie is nominated and I truly think that it is deserved.

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This film is written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and at first I had no idea who that was but as it turns out he directed one of the Harry Potter movies and also Gravity and Children of Men. This film is (according to Cuarón) based on events the he witnessed in his own upbringing in Mexico City although he admits that a great deal of the movie is complete fiction.

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The movie focuses mostly on the life of "Cleo" (played by the soon to be very famous Yalitza Aparicio) and follows her life as a live-in maid of a middle-class family in Mexico City. She is extremely modest, kind, thoughtful, and loving towards the family including and especially their 4 children, who she cares for as if they were her own.

She lives a simple life but takes all of the hardships that she faces in stride. She also seems to derive great joy from very simple things in life and for me anyway, this made me reflect on my own life that I complain about constantly (as does the middle-class family in the film) despite the fact that compared to Cleo, I (and they) live in relative opulence.

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I don't want to spoil the film with any real details because unlike a lot of the sometimes silly and rather pointless action films that I review, I feel as though there is something really special here. Roma, for me and many others, brought about a wide-range of emotions in me in scenarios that actually made you think rather than simply telling you how to feel, if that makes any sense.

Entertainment Weekly called this film "Genuinely Compassionate" and I think that really sums the film up for me also. It'll make you feel bad, then good, then angry. It is brilliantly shot and while I normally shy away from films like this I have to say, it is one of the best films I have seen in a long time. It is primarily in Spanish so get ready to read some subtitles unless you can speak that language.

on a scare of "urgh!" to "Wowsers Penny!" I give Roma a very heartfelt

Wowsers Penny!