Thread by @conan_esq

Nacho Libre was so underrated. Everything really comes together atop some really tight writing to make an endlessly rewatchable movie.

Nacho is a religious brother. He’s the cook, the low man on the totem pole at a monastery that runs an orphanage. He loves the orphans, but he’s frustrated at his treatment and the fact that he gets no funds to cook well.

In response, he indulges in a childhood fantasy of becoming a Luchador—forbidden by the brothers as an act of vanity, but rationalized by Nacho’s desire to provide funds for the orphans. This is a rich central conflict.

It’s based on the true story of Fray Tormenta, a Mexican priest who supported an orphanage by performing as a Luchador, who really deserves his own thread some time.

Nacho Libre was directed and co-written by Jared Hess, who also made Napoleon Dynamite. Napoleon Dynamite was a major cultural moment, but Nacho Libre is by far the better film.

Nacho Libre is such a seamless vision it’s hard to talk about its strengths separately. The photography has some Wes Anderson touches, warm tone, color-blocking and direct, centered, symmetries that match the whimsical tone.

Jack Black is great as a good hearted but childish Nacho, and the whimsical tone and wrestling plot are a perfect match for his great strength in physical comedy.

Despite the whimsey, the film feels remarkably grounded thanks to being filmed entirely on site in Oaxaca and using mostly local actors for supporting roles, including many Lucha legends, like Silver King playing in gold as Ramses.

One of the few non-local cast is Peter Stormare, going wayyy over the top as a huckster shaman who induces Nacho to eat an eagle egg to gain the power to defeat Ramses.

Esquelito, played by Héctor Jiménez, plays a great straight man to Nacho, providing contract in every respect, even refusing to be baptised because “I believe in Science”.

The soundtrack is fun throughout and the credits song — Hombre Religioso — is a real earworm

The big key to all of it for me is how the movie never feels the need to be low or mean-spirited. The story has low stakes, but Nacho is still a hero, and the movie is smart to never denigrate what he stands for—the orphans, the Church, and Lucha Libre.

The ground of humor comes from his aware embrace of his heroic quest—even his low point of self-imposed exile in the desert, which he undertakes with great seriousness, before it’s revealed to be just outside of town.

Hess achieves an incredibly delicate duality in tone here where the story plays successfully as a truly feel-good heroic story, as well as a comedy pastiche of itself—this tone matches the experience of Kayfabe in Lucha Libre perfectly.

The stakes of the film come together beautifully in Nacho’s climactic match against Ramses—only by facing the personal shame of being unmasked in the ring in front of everyone he cares about can he find the strength to defeat Ramses and save the orphanage.

If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend.