I Carry You With Me Review: A Slow Moving But Beautiful Portrait of Dreams and Discrimination

Release date: July 2, 2021
Running time: 112 minutes
Director: Heidi Ewing
Starring: Armando Espitia; Christian Vázquez; Michelle Rodríguez, Ángeles Cruz

I Carry You With Me, Academy-Award® nominee Heidi Ewing’s (Best Documentary, Jesus Camp, 2006) luminous, moving debut as a narrative filmmaker, follows a tender romance spanning decades. Starting in provincial Mexico and continuing as first Iván, then Gerardo, journey towards sharing a life together in New York City, I CARRY YOU WITH ME is an intimate love story, as well as a soulful rumination on family, sacrifice, regret, and ultimately, hope.

I Carry You With Me is a beautiful story about living your life and following your dreams.  The movie follows two men who find each other in the most unlikely of circumstances and chronicles their life journey.  The movie takes place in Mexico and America, and cuts between various locales and times as it explores the lives of Iván and Gerardo.  And the film does this beautifully, with some wonderful camera work and powerful shots of both America and Mexico.  Even when things are dire or sad, the movie is a wonderfully shot film.  There are some difficult scenes, one particular one set in a dark field, that make the most of the camera work to increase the gravity of the situation.  But this is also a testament to the acting in this movie; the stars really sell this film and the emotional content of it.  And the romantic scenes where these two meet are equally beautiful.  The story telling is delicately done, with a soft approach that lets the viewers explore the past without forcing the issue.  You see the life through their eyes and dialogue and not much more.  But what you do see is a side of Latino culture that is not normally explored, though it has thankfully seemed to become more acceptable in recent times.

However, the exploration of the past can be hard to follow.  The film jumps between time periods and locales regularly, sometimes going back to show their pasts and the traumas they experienced growing up.  It does this without any notification; you just recognize what happened by the age of the protagonists.  Other times it will show their more recent past, but jump between Mexico and America.  It makes for an interesting film that has a relatively seamless feel, but also one that is hard to follow.  I sometimes had trouble following where and when we were in the story and also trying to grasp the significance of individual scenes to the overall journey.  I imagine this would be greatly diminished on a second watch, but the first time it was hard to follow.  But that being said, although the story can be a little confusing, it is still a wonderful journey.  It highlights the hardships faced in both countries and the discriminations that was meted out to these individuals in both their birth home and adopted homes.  From discrimination for being gay in Mexico to discrimination for being Mexican in America, the film chronicles some harsh conditions and painful memories, but still paints a beautiful picture of hard work, determination, perseverance, and love.  And towards the end when the film becomes more a documentary, it is another wonderful reveal to show the real people behind the story that we saw.  But the message doesn't stop there as it continues to show the pain, beauty, and love that was evident in the recreation.

I Carry You With Me is a slow moving but beautiful portrait of hard work, dedication, and love that shows the pain of discrimination and the power of dreams.

Watch it.

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I Carry You With Me is in theaters on July 2, 2021.  For showtimes, click here.

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