Yes, at intermediate level, if you are patient. Roma is a quiet film set in 1970s Mexico City, whose everyday household Spanish is unhurried, but it offers less dialogue than a typical drama and includes some Mixtec as well.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Format
- Film
- Year
- 2018
- Length
- about 135 min
Why it works for learners
Domestic life drives the language: instructions, errands, family talk and short exchanges between employers and staff. That gives you practical words for home and daily routine, along with how politeness and hierarchy sound in Mexican Spanish. Long, patient scenes give you time to understand the situation before and after someone speaks. It is a film to watch closely, not one to pick for maximum spoken input per minute.
What makes it hard
Dialogue is often in the background, and street or household noise sits over it. Some conversations are in Mixtec, so do not panic if you understand nothing there. Words from 1970s Mexico and the film's slow pace may test your patience.
How to use it
Watch once with subtitles, then replay household scenes with Spanish subtitles only. Note how people give and receive instructions. At 135 minutes, you could break it into two or three sittings. Add a talkier Mexican show alongside for more speech.
More for Spanish learners: our Spanish guides.
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