The Cortes scene was phenomenal.

The thread linking the absolutely terrifying Narco interview > the "missing" on the streets of Mexico City > the colonial genocide of indigenous people > Cortes' conquest of Mexico by divide and conquer? Heavy stuff, man.

EDIT: the movie gets a lot of flak for being self-indulgent and overly autobiographical, but this here is exactly why I think the movie also has valuable commentary on Mexico and the US. It shouldn't be taken as pure navel gazing by Iñarritu

I think the only scene that felt a bit much for me personally was that Mateo scene. You know, that one. Otherwise I just enjoyed the movie full-stop.

I do wonder if the movie would've hit the same way if I hadn't spent as much time in Mexico over the last few years, though. The desaparecidos scene hit me like a ton of bricks but I can see it going over the heads of a lot of people who don't know this issue.