A box office success both domestically and abroad,[18] Y tu mamá también grossed $2.2 million in its first week, breaking Mexico's box office records for domestic films. It went on to gross a record $12 million in Mexico.[19]
The film became a global success after its distribution by U.S. independent companies Good Machine and IFC Films. The film grossed $13.8 million in the US and Canada, making it the second-highest grossing Spanish language film in the United States at the time,[20] and poised Bernal for crossover success into American markets[21] (Bernal's 2004 performance in The Motorcycle Diaries would go on to break this record). It grossed $33.6 million worldwide.[2]
Critically, Y tu mamá también garnered acclaim upon its original release. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 91% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of 192, and an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Led by a triumvirate of terrific performances, Alfonso Cuarón's free-spirited road trip through Mexico is a sexy and wistful hymn to the fleetingness of youth".[22] On Metacritic, which assigns a numbered rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 89 out of 100 based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[23] Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying, "Beneath the carefree road movie that the movie is happy to advertise is a more serious level—and below that, a dead serious level."[24]
Y tu mamá también won the Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival. It was also a runner up at the National Society of Film Critics Awards for Best Picture and Best Director and earned a nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the 2003 Academy Awards. The film made its US premiere at the Hawaii International Film Festival.[25]
Censorship controversies
The film was released without a rating in the US because a market-limiting NC-17 was unavoidable.[26] The MPAA's presumed treatment of the film based on the graphic depiction of sex, nudity and drug use in comparison to its much more accepting standards regarding violence, prompted critic Roger Ebert to question why movie industry professionals were not outraged: "Why do serious film people not rise up in rage and tear down the rating system that infantilizes their work?"[24]
In 2001, Alfonso and Carlos Cuarón sued the Mexican Directorate of Radio, Television, and Cinema (RTC) for the film's 18+ rating (A grade ‘C’ certificate from the RTC), which they considered illegal political censorship. They took legal action to expose the government-controlled ratings board, prompting its transformation into an autonomous organization free of government involvement and political influence. The 18+ rating was administered for strong sexual content, nudity involving teens, drug use, and explicit language, and prevented audiences under 18 from admittance. They claimed the ratings board was operating illegally by denying parents the right to choose who can watch the film, violating fundamental legal rights in Mexico.[15]
