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Gael Garcia Bernal plays the role of Saul Armendariz in “Cassandro”. Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute

January 30 (UPI) — You don’t have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy it Cassandra, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Saul Armendariz’s biopic is accessible and endearing to everyone.

Saul (Gael Garcia Bernal) wrestled as the masked luchador El Topo, but preferred to be the unmasked “exotico” Cassandro. Exotics struggled in women’s clothing.

Saul made a costume and developed his character of Cassandro in the ring. He has made great strides for the LGBTQ community in the industry and as a model.

Before Cassandro, exotics were expected to lose to the manly luchadors. Fans in the audience were shouting the F-word at them.

Cassandro doesn’t magically win over all the homophobes by the end of the film, but he does progress. The film shows the demonstrable difference Cassandro made to gay visibility and inspiring fans who had no other role model making them feel they could come out.

Like any sports movie, Cassandra shows how Saul trained with Sabrina (Roberta Colindrez), who fought as Lady Anarquia. Saul designs his Cassandro costume and then brings it to life in fabric.

Cassandra portrays the showmanship that Saul brought to the ring. It’s pure joy on Bernal’s face, and he flips and somersaults.

Cassandro became the first Exotic to win a match simply because someone had a vision. Saul suggested it but it was when a promoter saw the public responding to Cassandro that he put the money behind it.

Of course, the money wasn’t enough to get some luchadors willing to lose to Cassandro, but it only took one who was up for it to follow this new story direction.

The film shows Saul taking injections, and sometimes cocaine, but does not dwell on the impact of the drugs. Saul’s relationship with his mother (Perla De La Rosa) also remains important in his life.

Saul is also romantically involved with his adversary Gerardo (Raul Castillo), who is married to a woman and has children. Not everything goes as Saul hopes. There was still more to be done to get gay people out and supported in society, and there still is.

The film mixes equally Spanish and English. Luchadors like Gigantico and Son of Santo perform themselves, but never remove their masks, showing that they still have great love for Cassandro.

Cassandra is an inspiring true story that turns a very specific industry into a universal underdog story. It depicts the difficulties too, but on the whole Cassandra has a happy ending.

Prime Video will be released Cassandra in 2023.

Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a Los Angeles-based UPI entertainment writer. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012. Read more about his work in Entertainment.