I was a media critic for a good while, and I have a critic’s soul, I don’t believe any movie or book is perfect and without flaws, certainly including my own work.

My job as a reviewer is to prepare people for the movie without hype or hyperbole, and give them what they need to know in order to decide what to see.

But I’m caught here, I can’t say a bad word about this staggeringly wonderful film. This is new and happy ground.

I saw Roma last night, a film directed by Alfonso Cuaron.  I can comfortably call it a masterpiece. I believe it was perfect in every respect – the writing, the acting, the cinematography, the message. I have no nits to pick.

(Roma is in some limited theaters this week so as to qualify for an Oscar nomination, but debuted Friday night on Netflix, the company that paid for it and produced it.)

A movie as gripping, beautiful and touching as this one will prove a game changer for Netflix and the other streaming companies challenging the big studios.

Any studio that can make a movie like this going to make cinematic history and offer Americans even more reasons to stay home and stream. Maybe Hollywood will take this movie as a wake-up call and try to compete.

Mexico is our neighbor, but apart from shooting and drug cartels, our media never seem to explore the average lives of the Mexicans. We know nothing about these people other than what politicians scream at press conferences.

Cuaron has made a movie about life and love and family. His movie is brilliant in its simplicity and discipline and power. It’s been a long time since I saw a movie as good as this one, and it could be a long time before I see another one.

There were more haunting and beautiful and evocative scenes in this movie that I can recall seeing in all the movies I’ve seen this year – perhaps longer – combined.

“Roma” is set in a real middle-class neighborhood of sprawling Mexico city, a world of maids, gates, maids and nannies, cooks, privilege and oversized American cars.

We do get jarring images of the poverty and brutality millions of Mexicans face. At dinner, one of the children at dinner matter-of-factly recounts a happening at school: a child throws a water balloon at an army jeep. The driver pulls over, takes out a gun and shoots him in head. The parents nod, but say nothing.

We also see the violent side of Mexican politics, Cleo can’t escape them.

We see this family begin to fall into crisis through the eyes of “Cleo,” a shy, naive, loving maid from a rural Indian village. The character was inspired by Cuaron’s nanny Liboria, who raised him in a household similar to the one in the film. The household details are fascinating, there is not a scene in this film (shot in black-and-white) that is not riveting.

I was mesmerized by the recreation in Roma of a true attack on protesting students by armed militias, and the profoundly  and the remarkably beautiful scene at the end of the movie when two of Cleo’s beloved charged are pulled into the sea and in danger of drowning.

Somehow, Cuaron gets us right into the water with these children, every wave turned my knuckles white.

The film is about Mexico, women and their love for one another.  I guess it is really a move about love, with all of its glories and disapointments.

Mexico suffered greatly from various colonial invaders and occupiers, and we see some of the  scars from the country’s tortured history in the everyday scenes in Roma. Cuaron makes every single scene count.

Men aren’t very honorable in Roma.  Cuaron has a lot to say about machismo and infidelity, but he is savvy enough to show rather than tell.

Cleo is a memorable character. Her simplicity is nearly overwhelmed by the complexity of her family’s disintegrating life.

She adores the children in charge and cares deeply about them. They love her in turn. Their mother sometimes turns on Cleo when she is treated unfairly, but  the two dare  deeply for each other.

This love and complex relationship is at the heart of Roma.

We were fortunate enough to see this movie with a good friend, she happens to be an immigrant from Mexico, laboring on a cattle farm.

She works on a farm in a nearby county. She is not surprisingly, afraid to go out often or travel far in modern day America, where people like her are hunted like fugitives or killers.

She agreed to come out with us, and also join us for dinner at Mexican restaurant. She loved meeting the owner, she loves meeting people she can talk to in Spanish.

Getting to know and love her has been important for us, we see firsthand that very few immigrants are rapists or terrorists or thieves, they seek to help their families by risking their lives to come here and do work most Americans won’t do. They work all the time, day and night, seven days a week.  Our friend is honest and loving and loves our country.

She absolutely loved Roma, she talked about the power of the movie, authenticity it captured, the poetry of this torn culture, the awful poverty in Mexico, the violence and corruption, the struggles of women in a society very much dominated by men and testosterone, even more than ours.

It’s not for me to justify people entering our country illegally, but I sure can’t demonize them and portray them as vicious animals either. They deserve a chance to live and should be treated with mercy and thoughtfulness.

Our friend pays her taxes and works three jobs at least. All of them are grueling and exhausting.

Seeing the film with her gave us an even deeper  appreciation for the sensitivity of Cuaron’s movie.

I’ve never used the term “masterpiece” in any movie review I’ve ever written, I can use it without hesitation here. The best and most useful thing I can tell you is to go see it. I recommend it without hesitation or qualification.

As you know, I’m not into fawning, but I really can’t say enough about this movie. It is masterful and touching in every way. It will burrow into your heart and soul and stay there for a long time.

One caution. I would not take very young children to see it, there is male frontal nudity and also some jarring violence (not much, but it’s there.) For me, I’d take mature middle-schoolers and high schoolers.  There is nothing in it they haven’t seen before or can’t handle. 

And how wonderful for Americans of any age to get a look at the real life of real Mexicans. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for somebody in our nation to know what they are talking about when they talk about Mexico?