499 - Official Trailer

Opens Aug 20 at BAM in Brooklyn, Aug 27 at Laemmle Monica Film Center in Los Angeles and Sep 3 at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco.

To reflect on the 500-year anniversary of the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 2021, director Reyes offers a bold hybrid cinema experience exploring the brutal legacy of colonialism in contemporary Mexico. Through the eyes of a ghostly conquistador, the film recreates Hérnan Cortés' epic journey from the coasts of Veracruz to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the site of contemporary Mexico City. As the anachronistic fictional character interacts with real-life victims of Mexico's failed drug wars and indigenous communities in resistance, the filmmaker portrays the country's current humanitarian crisis as part of a vicious and unfinished colonial project, still in motion, nearly five hundred years later.

Provocative, unique, and strikingly cinematic, 499 mixes non-fictional and performative elements with elements of the road movie to show how past traumas continue to affect contemporary reality. While linking these seemingly disparate histories of violence, the film confirms Reyes as one of the most potent voices in American independent cinema.

[hawkeyeproductions]

I watched it, it is excellent. It doesn't cast blame or come off as self-righteous. It is unique and beautifully shot. I am descended from similar stock and have both Meso-American and Asturian/Portuguese/Basque ancestry. Similar resentments still exist today in New Mexico and the American Southwest. The modern descendants must learn to forgive and live with those whose ancestors battled four to five centuries ago.

[andresreyes]

unique and creative approach, fostering critical thought and a long-view of history.

[johnllyod]

I loved mexican people. Im from philippines but i get along easy with mexicans i dont know why hahaha... Its time for change and time to unite for mexicans people to give the new generation a good future.. Drugs and cartel must end...

[mromero]

When and where can the film be seen in the US?

[hridoykhan]

Where to download the movie for free?
Plz link 😔

[danielfietkau]

Where can I watch it ? has it been released on Bluray/DVD?

[ABCD]

When and where will it become available for streaming?

[markriffey]

Almost a year later and I still have no idea where to view/stream this. Horrible marketing

[Sebas-svsb]

Que tiene que ver la conquista con la realidad que hoy vive Mexico?

[pointmanzero]

I would love to make this exact same film only I am a British colonialist who just wanted a homestead.
And I walk around fast food joints and walmarts wondering where did it all go wrong?

[antoniolamossa]

Esas preguntas hay que hacerselas al Mexico que es hoy, no a la nueva España que fue hace 200 años!