A coming-of-age movie about a Mexican American teenager filmed and set in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is getting solidly good reviews after opening in limited release nationwide. The dramedy revolves around a 14-year-old boy named Olmo whose family is struggling to make ends meet in 1979 and the conflict he faces having to care for his bedridden father when a girl invites him to a party.

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The movie opened nationwide on Friday, Aug. 7, including in Las Cruces, El Paso and Albuquerque. The movie has a 95% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Times described it as ‘a New Mexican coming of age comedy’ that finds ‘tenderness and turmoil in a 1970s Mexican American household’ and the Los Angeles Times positively compares it to the John Hughes teen movies of the 1980s.

‘Olmo’ was directed by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke, who co-wrote the movie with Vanesa Garnica, a Mexican novelist and screenwriter. The movie is about family, growing up and the human experience of having to care for someone else, whether it’s a parent, grandparent or spouse, Eimbcke and Garnica said in news notes for the film.

The bilingual movie also captures the immigrant experience of parents speaking Spanish and their kids answering in English. ‘Olmo’ was initially going to be filmed in Albuquerque but the location was switched when the filmmakers ‘fell in love with Las Cruces,’ Eimbcke told the New Mexico Film Office.

The feature film production wrapped up filming in and around Las Cruces in November 2023, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. The production employed more than 100 New Mexico residents, including about 80 as background talent, 40 crew members and 12 principal actors, the New Mexico Film Office stated.

Original reporting: Las Cruces Sun News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.