Today it was announced that best buds Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna would reunite for Hulu’s Spanish-language boxing series, La Máquina, the latest project for this lifelong bromance.
The two handsome stars have been friends since childhood—according to García Bernal’s parents, the pair met when Luna was just two days old—and their enduring (platonic) relationship has led to many creative collaborations over the years (not to mention, endless, heart-eyed internet adoration).
But our personal favorite will always be Y Tu Mamá También, the sexy, Mexican road trip movie from Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón. You know, the one with the threesome!
Related: 5 homoerotic Latin films to be savored in the universal language of love
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Released in 2001, the film was a major international breakthrough, scoring Cuarón a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the Oscars and a Best Foreign-Language Film nod at the Golden Globes. It’s also responsible for making García Bernal and Luna household names, bringing their sweet friendship to the global stage.
Their real-life chemistry is the backbone of the sensual, unforgettable Y Tu Mamá También. At a wedding, two bachelors—Julio (García Bernal) and Tenoch (Luna)—strike up a flirty connection with an older married woman named Luisa (the luminous Maribel Verdú). They try to woo her into accompanying them on a trip to a too-good-to-be-true beach, which she initially rebuffs, but then comes around on after receiving some terrible news.
As they journey across rural Mexico, the trio boasts about love and romantic exploits, with Luisa becoming a point of contention among the horny young men: Who’s going to sleep with her first? The sexual tension continues to build until one night when Luisa coaxes the three into an intimate dance, which soon gives way to the bedroom.
If you know one thing about Y Tu Mamá También it’s likely that this erotic three-way encounter winds up bringing Julio and Tenoch closer together than they ever imagined. Suffice to say, gay viewers will not be disappointed.
And, look, we won’t lie: What unfolds—what Cuarón chooses to show and not show—is really, really hot. But it’s all part of a rather stunning film about attraction and desire, one that highlights tenuousness of young friendship and of heterosexuality. It’s a landmark queer film, one that feels just as fresh and titillating over two decades later.
It’s wild to remember that this was before Brokeback Mountain—a time when mainstream, “serious” films shied away from queer sexuality and seldom depicted gay stories as anything more than morose tragedies. That’s not to say Y Tu Mamá También is entirely optimistic (we won’t spoil what happens the morning after), but it’s alive and authentic and three-dimensional in a way that still feels rare.
No one was holding back, especially not García Bernal and Luna. As we prepare for their next great on-screen partnership, there’s no better time to revisit Y Tu Mamá También—or experience its pleasures for the first time. Not that you need another an excuse to fawn over our favorite Hollywood bromance!
Y Tu Mamá También is available to stream for free to AMC+ and DirecTV subscribers. It’s also rentable via Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, GooglePlay, and YouTube.
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Donston
Y Tu Mama Tambien is one of my favorite flicks of the 2000s. It’s a movie with a lot of subtext. And one could argue that a layer of that subtext is guys using women for sex and conquests and ego and sociological status while being afraid to explore their same-sex affections and emotional bonds and romantic ties due to immaturity, insecurities and gay panic. That is something we still see a lot of in the “real world”. However, this layer is only hinted to and not really directly explored in the film. And as far as legit “gay stuff” all there is is a two second kiss. It’s still a good ass movie though.
Harley
Funny that I bought the dvd of this movie at Walmart and the gay scene was edited out. I was like WTF. Luckily a friend of mine bought a copy from another source unedited so I was able to watch these 2 beautiful men together.
nitejonboy
yeah Walmart is well known for editing the movies they sell, they can get away with it because the distributors have to sign some sort of agreement for the films to be sold there. Many filmmakers won’t allow their films to be sold there. Bravo to them.
JED08
I think that I’ve loved Gael García Bernal since the first time I ever saw him in something.
Tallskin
This repressed and tedious shlt was released in 2001 is not remotely “a landmark queer film”!!! WTF Queerty!
there’s not even a gay kiss in it!
Meanwhile just in the UK alone by 2001 we’ve had wonderful gay films like Maurice, Beautiful Thing, Get Real, My Beautiful Laundrette, Sebastiane from 1976- Not to mention campaigning films from 1961 like VICTIM.
Then there are all the other gay films from the USA, France, Germany, Spain.
Donston
It would be silly to call this a “gay movie”, and it doesn’t even deal with any queer themes directly. It does have some gay subtext and is subversive in some ways. But no, I wouldn’t call it “groundbreaking” outside of being a very sexually explicit flick that also happens to be a great movie.
johnnysimpatico
Yes absolutley good point!
little Alex
I agree it’s not a gay film, but there was indeed a gay kiss in it. Perhaps you saw a censored version?
And yes, all the other films you mentioned are great. I especially like Maurice, which has quite a number of nude scenes.
johnnysimpatico
Don’t remeber the film as the queer friendly film Cameron does. It was 2000, not 1980 when this was made. And its hetro all the way, the boys with their waifish shirtless bodies was nice, and the way they try to seduce the woman is kinda sexy throughout and male friendship is cool. But the “gay” or “yuck” scene as a heterosexual likely homophobic latino coworker characterized it, and the fallout is not really “gay friendly” and the impact on their friendship is what I exprerienced when I came out to straight male friends, no way connecting rather sad and homophobic. Eye candy and tease do not a classic make.
Donston
The movie isn’t meant to be “gay friendly”. In fact, if anything, it’s about gay panic. As I said in a previous post, it’s a film with a lot of subtext. It’s not merely a sex or eye candy movie. It’s ultimately centered around a heartbroken and depressed woman using two immature and way too young guys to briefly distract her from her troubles. It’s about two young rich idiots so caught up in ego and sex and privilege that they’re ignoring the struggles of people surrounding them, including the chick they’re trying to hook-up with. It’s about two boys who primarily use women for sex and conquests and ego while ignoring those women’s desires and needs. It’s about the sometimes complicated nature of male friendships. Some of which veer into sexual, emotional, romantic ties that often go ignored mostly due to gay panic, hetero-normalcy, ego.
The movie uses the outline of being a “sex romp” to tell a much more layered and subversive but still realistic story. Also, it’s a fairly beautiful movie to look at.
Bengali
Speaking of gay scenes – check out the unedited version of Ryan Philippe movie, “54” where Ryan and Brecken Meyer share a passion very deep kiss.
James
Y Tu Mamá También,,,,,, one of the stupidest, most pointless, useless films ever made. And it was not gay.
nitejonboy
Why is it every movie with hetero characters who dare kiss each other ( or have a threesome with a woman where they briefly end up touching each other ) ends up becoming labeled an LGBTQ movie, often considered some sort of hit ? Yes, sexual repression among hetero men is a thing, but do we have to adopt every single movie that briefly caters to us, or attempts to bait us into watching it. The movie is good, but I don’t think we need to lump every movie that has a gay kiss in it as an LGBTQ classic. Stop co-opting other’s movies who weren’t made for us,and begin appreciating the ones that were!!
Bonerboy
I unexpectedly cried at the end of this movie when I saw it years ago. I really loved it.