#la máquina

[guildfordd]

DIEGO LUNA as Andy Luján in La Máquina (2024) Cassian Andor in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

[bluemoonperegrine]

Happy Together fan vid

Kinda sorta spoilers? Watch at your own risk if you haven't finished La Máchina.

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[miko-mikke]

Esteban… I love you…

[fallenrocket]

Because La Máquina marks the first time in over a decade that Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna have teamed up onscreen in live-action, it’s understandable that a lot of the marketing, and fans’ excitement, have centered around seeing them act together, with pretty much every interview they’ve done for the show highlighting their friendship. We even got to see them taking on Bert and Ernie in a battle of the best friends! (Big, big thank you to whoever dreamed up that one!)

That lifelong friendship is felt onscreen through their interactions as Esteban and Andy, but not necessarily in the way you’d expect. Because really, Andy and Esteban probably spend about 80% of their scenes together arguing. And they come by it honestly–after a 20-year working relationship complicated by money and strained by addiction issues and lies, both are also dealing with a lot of personal stuff when a gigantic bomb is dropped into their laps. As the Otras Personas extort Esteban into throwing his final fight, Andy is genuinely regretful but also doesn’t want to be blamed too directly, and Esteban is thrown completely off-kilter by this stunning, devastating revelation. It’s a lot to put on a friendship, and theirs wasn’t on the most solid ground to begin with.

So they argue. They fight over why Andy made such a reckless deal in the first place and why he never told Esteban about it, they fight over the best way to handle their dilemma, and they fight over how to keep from further antagonizing the Otras Personas. Their friendship is at the breaking point, and people looking at them from the outside don’t know why they put up with each other. Nearly everyone tells Esteban he needs to fire Andy, and Andy’s mom is insistent that keeping Esteban as a client is holding Andy back.

But that’s where García Bernal and Luna’s real-life friendship comes in. Despite all the shouting and accusations, despite the moments when Esteban itches to get Andy in the ring so he can clock him, you’re still able to feel the love between them. Just like in Y tu mamá también and their other onscreen collaborations, their characters’ relationship is different than their own, but they lend that feeling of history. The sense that these two characters go as far back together as one can go. The sense that they’ve been through it all together, and no matter how much their lives change, on some level they’re still just those two boys from Jalisco.

Andy and Esteban’s arguments cut deeply, in large part because of how much they care for each other. Andy feels sick that his dumb decisions from ages ago are now endangering everyone he loves, even as he tries to wriggle away from direct accusations. Esteban is hurt and despondent, wondering how much of his career was a lie while also thinking how this could ruin his future legacy. When Andy first tells him the news, Esteban can’t bear the realization that Andy fixed fights for him in the past because he didn’t believe Esteban could win. When Esteban accuses Andy of taking a cut from the Otras Personas, Andy sounds so genuinely affronted that his friend would think so little of him, asking, “Don’t you know me, asshole?” When Irasema and Andy are arguing over Esteban’s relapse, she tosses out the line, “My ex is Mexico’s favorite junkie,” and Andy instantly snaps back, “Don’t call him that!”

Their fights don’t lessen their love for each other. They fight so hard and land such cutting blows because they love each other so much. Each knows the other better than they know themselves, recognizing one another’s messy parts while avoiding their own blind spots. They can break each other’s hearts, but when their backs are really up against the wall, each comes through for the other in a way that matters. That’s why Luna and García Bernal’s chemistry is invaluable to the show. Two actors without the history they have together would be hard-pressed to create a connection so electric.

[stardestroyerss]

This is too cute! ✨✨✨

[filmshotsandhandsomeactors]

[cinemedios]

¡Todo sobre 'La Máquina', el regreso de la dupla Luna-García!

Diego Luna y Gael García Bernal son una de las duplas de actores mexicanos más queridas de los últimos años, protagonizando películas como ‘Y tu mamá también ó ‘Rudo y cursi’ se han ganado los corazones del público nacional e internacional y ahora se unen junto a Eiza González en un nuevo drama deportivo. El pasado 15 de agosto la revista Vanity Fair compartió las primeras imágenes de la primer…

[justapeperobox]

La Máquina girlies

[abirdie]

Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna attend the Los Angeles premiere of La Máquina at Hollywood Athletic Club on 3 October 2024, photographed by Matt Winkelmeyer

[bluemoonperegrine]

These two, I swear 😂

This is a lot of fun as well as earnest. They even talk about their roles in Andor and Werewolf by Night! Just a little, alas.

[compostando]

La Máquina y su Prisión

Anderson Salim Calil

Tenho sentido essa aura obscura, sedutora e calorosa ao meu redor há dias, após um pesadelo que tive, sobre me tornar o Noivo de Lilith. Nesse sonho, "La Máquina" apareceu como uma bela mulher, com vibrações de mulher selvagem e longos cabelos loiros. Ela era alta e baixa ao mesmo tempo, e ficamos bem na frente da sua casa, onde entendi que ela me trouxe para ser o seu consorte. A casa parecia bastante comum vista de fora: uma permanente obra negra. "Você ficaria chocado com o que acontece lá dentro" Ela sussurrou sedutoramente no meu ouvido. "Aquele lugar onde homens e mulheres se desgastavam e a carne se derretia de prazer"

Uma mobilização erótica para a qual nenhuma contramobilização normativa foi possível.

Ela me apresentou dentro de sua casa e chegamos à sala: na verdade, era moderno e bonito, muito diferente do exterior da casa, que parecia um prédio básico de madeira; pintado com várias cores em algum lugar do extremo sul. Por dentro, sua casa tinha portas de vidro, fiquei intrigado com o quarto no topo da escada, onde eu sabia que a maior surpresa estaria… fui vendido como um "Chino Literário". O sonho acabou aí.

[fallenrocket]

During the karaoke scene in the first episode of La Máquina, I got just a flicker of a Three Musketeers/trio vibe when Irasema steps in to join Esteban and Andy’s performance. Even though Irasema and Esteban are no longer married, and even though Esteban and Andy have spent a lot of the episode at odds, this moment gives you a sense that it’s the three of them against the world.

As the show went on, I started to get more of a sense that Andy and Irasema would have nothing to do with each other if it weren’t for Esteban. Both of them care about Esteban, and it feels a little like both understand the other comes as a package deal with him, someone they have to put up with for his sake. They argue over what he needs and who has his best interests at heart. When Irasema finds out about the deal Andy made with the Otras Personas, she’s understandably furious.

That’s why I love seeing Andy and Irasema team up in episode 5 when Esteban disappears with the boys. Yes, they’re in this car together because they’re both worried about Esteban and they want to find the boys safely, but this is just about the only time in the show when we see the two of them in a scene without him. And when it’s just them, we get to see a little bit of Irasema and Andy relating to each other as actual friends, which is neat. 

Once they figure out where Esteban took the boys, Irasema is no longer panicked, but she’s still anxious to get there. Andy reassures her that Esteban would never hurt the kids, and when she mentions that Esteban never told her about his dad, Andy gently points out that that might be for the best. And while Andy is there to support Irasema in an upsetting situation, she’s supportive to him too. He’s only just gotten away from his toxic mom, and as she blows up his phone and tries to guilt him into coming back, Irasema offers advice and encouragement. Maybe most importantly, she gets Andy to laugh a little, even as he’s tearing up, over how ridiculous his mom is being.

I really like that. In this show, all three characters are dealing with some massive issues, both externally and internally, and that leads to a lot of tension between them. As I’ve said, Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal’s lifelong friendship helps us to see the connection between Andy and Esteban even when they fight, and it’s clear throughout the series how much Esteban and Irasema still care for each other. Of the three, Irasema and Andy’s relationship often feels most contentious, so I’m glad the show gives us this brief look at what they’re like together as friends.