YOU’RE KILLING ME SUSANA: Not Engaging Enough To Drive Its Points Home

You’re Killing Me Susana is not the romantic comedy it’s been marketed as. It’s much more ambitious than that: it treads on issues that rom-coms generally stay far away from, and it doesn’t adhere to almost any of the genre’s stereotypes. It’s certainly ambitious, but it takes a little too long to get where it’s going and the characters fall a bit flat. Fortunately, the ride is enjoyable enough that we don’t really mind.

What are we supposed to take from this movie?

I normally wouldn’t ask such a straightforward question, but it’s really not clear what You’re Killing Me Susana is trying to tell us. It touches on masculinity, sexism, racism, personal identity… but the take-home message isn’t immediately obvious.

I can tell you what I think we’re supposed to take from the movie: that the double standard involving women cheating on men versus men cheating on women is unfair and sexist. Eligio (Gael García Bernal) cheats on Susana (Verónica Echegui) like it’s no big deal, and it’s implied he’s done so in the past. He doesn’t see this as any sign of trouble in their relationship, repeatedly insisting that “we’re doing great” even after she goes missing.

When Susana understandably gets fed up with the state of their relationship and gives Eligio a taste of his own medicine, he becomes enraged and possessive (which would be more than forgivable if not for his own sleeping around). He can’t fathom why she would do this to him, while never even considering that his infidelity could have been just as hurtful to her.

Ultimately, this message about sexism and double standards doesn’t hit nearly as hard as it could have. The story doesn’t make us ask ourselves any challenging questions, it just points out Eligio’s glaring hypocrisy while we (presumably) nod in agreement. Exposing a flaw in a character is thought-provoking at most; exposing a flaw in our own thinking would have been much more powerful.

Are we supposed to like Eligio?

Perhaps they could have pushed us to ask some introspective questions if we had ever put ourselves in Eligio’s shoes in the first place. You’re Killing Me Susana points us in this direction by establishing him as laid-back, funny, mildly successful, charming, and attractive – all the usual markers of a likable character that we’re supposed to relate to.

But when we learn early on that Eligio frequently and casually cheats on Susana, all of those good feelings get flipped (and we’re left to wander through the rest of the movie without a truly likable character). We don’t feel all that bad for him when he is crushed by Susana’s infidelity, and his humor that charms the other characters so effectively doesn’t work on us as much.

Eligio doesn’t particularly grow throughout You’re Killing Me Susana either. Even after he confronts Susana upon finding her in Iowa, he doesn’t even seem to care about the root of the issues in their relationship, he’s far too occupied with whether she had sex with the large silent monster-man and how well-endowed he was. In fact, the exact same progression of events plays out twice in a row: Eligio doesn’t know where Susana is, so he goes looking for her, and once he finds her, he immediately realizes she is cheating on him. Eligio reacts the exact same way both times! This was such an obvious missed opportunity for character growth that it must have been intentional.

It’s possible that we’re supposed to interpret Eligio’s not having sex with Irene (Ashley Grace) as personal growth (even though he still leads her on and kisses her in her car), and he does acknowledge that he messed up later in the movie. But ultimately, he spends the vast majority of You’re Killing Me Susana as someone who cheats on his wife while being enraged and baffled that she would do the same to him. In any case, it’s difficult to like Eligio even though his wittiness and charm beg us to root for him.

Do Eligio and Susana really love each other?

There are definitely certain points in the story where it would appear that yes, our two main characters in a so-called romantic comedy actually do love each other. After Eligio finds Susana the first time, they have about twenty minutes of screen time where their romantic chemistry is charming and convincing. We get a glimpse of why they married each other in the first place.

But after Eligio’s flirting with Irene unravels their relationship for a second time, we get a glimpse of why Susana left in the beginning of You’re Killing Me Susana. It’s difficult to imagine that Eligio could really love her while throwing away what they had so carelessly, and it’s difficult to say whether Susana truly loves Eligio, given that her motivations and personality are not as fleshed out as his are. In fact, this brings us back to the main flaw in the movie: we are never really certain about any character’s intentions and feelings, so it’s especially difficult to relate to any of them.

Lastly, You’re Killing Me Susana’s take the United States is biting and on-the-nose. In You’re Killing Me Susana’s first few minutes in the USA, we see stingy border control officers, twangy country music, factories, a chubby racist cab driver, pretentious academics, and a gun range. Given the current state of affairs, we’ll take it.

Conclusion

I spent an unfair amount of time criticizing a genuinely funny, fairly enjoyable movie. It pushes boundaries that similar movies refuse to touch, while not bending to any genre stereotypes. You’re Killing Me Susana also impressively keeps us on our toes: we’re never quite sure when a scene is going to be played for laughs or when it’s going to be poignant and impactful.

The movie certainly has a lot of good moments and a lot of potential, so it’s disappointing when it stumbles with its static, mostly unlikable characters. While Eligio and Susana might make for a thought-provoking story, they don’t quite make for an engaging movie.

That’s enough from me – what did you take away from You’re Killing Me Susana? Did you like Eligio? Let us know in the comments!

You’re Killing Me Susana opened in August of 2016 in Mexico and is available in a limited theatrical release in the US as of February 17.