Overview
A gripping tale of vengeance and morality unfolds in the slums of Mexico City.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- bleak
- oppressive
- harrowing
- classic cinema evening
- serious film discussion
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a harsh, innovative, and historically significant masterpiece whose unsparing portrayal of juvenile crime exposes systemic social failure.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Pedro, Jaibo, and other street children are shaped by slum conditions, family abandonment, and inadequate reform institutions.
The Mexico City slums, juvenile violence, and failed care systems are depicted with sustained harshness and little consolation.
Pedro seeks approval and a better life while Jaibo's return and the surrounding environment repeatedly pull him toward complicity and danger.
Buñuel inserts disturbing dream imagery into an otherwise grounded account of slum life, intensifying the film's critique of social morality.
Films like The Young and the Damned, and why
Bicycle Thieves
unsparing social realism, marginalized youth, and institutional failure
Pixote
bleak urban poverty, juvenile delinquency, and morally complex social critique
Kes
auteur-driven realism, systemic deprivation, and young characters trapped by society
Movie Details
- Director
- Luis Buñuel
- Release Date
- 1950-12-09
- Runtime
- 82 min
- Rating
- 8.1 / 10 (562)
Cast
- Estela Inda
- Miguel Inclán
- Alfonso Mejía
- Roberto Cobo
- Alma Delia Fuentes
- Francisco Jambrina
- Jesús García Navarro
- Efraín Arauz
- Sergio Virel
- Jorge Pérez
Common questions
- What is The Young and the Damned about?
- In Mexico City's slums, a returning delinquent's hunger for revenge drags a vulnerable boy into a merciless cycle of poverty, violence, and social abandonment.
- What is The Young and the Damned like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Young and the Damned as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Young and the Damned violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Young and the Damned as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Young and the Damned?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a harsh, innovative, and historically significant masterpiece whose unsparing portrayal of juvenile crime exposes systemic social failure.
- Which films are like The Young and the Damned?
- Films with a similar feel include Bicycle Thieves, Pixote, and Kes.
- How long is The Young and the Damned?
- The Young and the Damned runs 82 minutes.
