Cassandro

Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso, rises to international stardom after he creates the character Cassandro, the “Liberace of Lucha Libre.” In the process, he upends not just the macho wrestling world but also his own life.

In the lucha libre wrestling scene of Juárez, Mexico, gay luchador Saúl is tired of playing El Topo, a nondescript, masked runt who always loses his matches. He wants to be a star. His fierce new trainer, Sabrina, suggests he develop an exótico character — an unmasked, stereotypically effeminate role audiences love to hate. But exóticos never get to win. All that changes when Saúl debuts the flamboyant and powerful Cassandro, who captures the crowd’s attention and affection. But how will Cassandro’s ascent affect Saúl’s relationship with his mother — still pining away for his unavailable father — and with Gerardo, Saúl’s secret lover?

Academy Award–winning documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams makes his fiction directorial debut with the real-life tale of Cassandro, the “Liberace of lucha libre,” crafting an engaging origin story for an outsider turned unlikely superstar. Gael García Bernal embodies the two distinct sides of Saúl, capturing both his feelings of otherness and the boisterous ring persona who embraces and revels in his difference.