Official Trailer
Rating: 0/10 | Genre: History, Comedy | Runtime: 95 min
Starring: Diego Luna, Karla Souza, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Memo Villegas, Álvaro Guerrero
I went into Mexico 86 expecting a straightforward sports comedy, and I got… well, something a lot messier than that. In a good way, mostly.
Diego Luna plays Rodrigo, a mid-level bureaucrat who somehow convinces FIFA that Mexico can host the 1986 World Cup on basically no notice. The actual hosting duties aren’t really what the movie is about though. It’s more about how Rodrigo has to lie, manipulate, and scheme his way through an impossible situation while everyone around him is doing the exact same thing. It’s very much a movie about Mexican politics wrapped up in a sports comedy package.
Luna is great here. He plays Rodrigo as this guy who’s smart enough to know he’s in over his head but confident enough to fake it anyway. There’s this scene about halfway through where he has to convince some FIFA official that Mexico already has a new stadium built, and he’s literally just pointing at a field with some construction equipment. The way Luna sells it is funny without being cartoonish about it. He actually seems like a real person scrambling to keep things together.
The supporting cast does good work too. Karla Souza plays his ex-wife who keeps getting dragged into his schemes. Daniel Giménez Cacho is this corrupt government official who’s basically Rodrigo’s dark mirror. These characters actually feel like they have relationships and history with each other, which makes the comedy land better when things fall apart.
Here’s where I have to be honest though: the pacing is weird. The movie is only 95 minutes, and it feels like they’re trying to cram in too much plot. There are subplots about bribing people, subplots about stadium construction, subplots about Rodrigo’s personal life. Some of it works. Some of it just kind of stops mattering. By the third act I was losing the thread a little bit.
The tone also gets shaky. The movie wants to be a comedy, but it also wants to say something real about corruption and power in Mexico. Those two things don’t always fit together neatly. Some scenes are genuinely funny. Other scenes are trying to be darkly funny but just feel mean. There’s a scene where someone loses their job and it’s played for laughs, but it’s actually pretty sad when you think about it.
The World Cup stuff itself is kind of background noise. The actual tournament doesn’t show up until late in the movie, and when it does, it’s not really the focus. This is a character movie pretending to be a sports movie. I’m not complaining about that exactly, but it means if you’re looking for dramatic World Cup scenes, you’re going to be disappointed.
What stuck with me most was this underlying current of sadness. Rodrigo wins in the end, technically. Mexico hosts the Cup. But the movie makes it clear that winning in this world means lying, bribing, and screwing people over. There’s no real victory. Just different kinds of loss. Luna plays it well. He doesn’t do a big triumphant moment at the end. He just looks tired.
Is Mexico 86 perfect? No. It’s a bit of a mess structurally and tonally. But it’s an interesting mess. It’s trying to do something real about systems and corruption while also getting laughs out of bumbling bureaucrats. It mostly works, even when it shouldn’t.
If you like character-driven comedies and you’re interested in how institutional corruption actually works, you’ll probably find something to like here. Just don’t expect it to be a tidy package. Have you seen movies that mix comedy with darker themes like this? How do you feel about them when they’re not entirely balanced?
Where to Watch
Streaming availability varies by region. Check your favorite streaming platform to see if this title is available in your country.