El Buen Cine, Mexico City's DVD Store Holding its Own Against Streaming & Gentrification
mexicosolidarity.com
For over 15 years, a space for film buffs and the curious has been one of the last DVD stores in Mexico City.

This article by Ivan Ortiz originally appeared in the May 3, 2026 edition of El ​​Sol de México.

Amidst the frenetic pace of Mexico City’s Historic Center, dozens of people pause to explore the aisles of El Buen Cine as if it were a museum gallery, they attentively contemplate the latest films and series available on physical media.

A few DVD players are for sale in a display case, and a screen hanging from the ceiling plays Ratatouille (2007). The walls of this shop are covered with five thousand films in DVD, Blu-ray, and even LD formats—the missing link between the old VHS tapes and discs.

“These are the last records. Unfortunately, I think this [this business] doesn’t have much time left,” predicts Mario Alberto Nuñez, an employee of the place, in an interview with El Sol de México, with discouragement.

Film enthusiasts and curious onlookers flock to this place in search of their favorite movies. From blockbuster hits to films from the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema and Italian classics.

Photo: Omar Flores, El ​​Sol de México.

Lack of Production Makes it Difficult to Obtain New Titles

Located at number 20 on Tacuba Street, El Buen Cine has been resisting the dominance of streaming platforms and the excessive increase in rents, promoted by gentrification in the center of the capital, for more than 15 years.

However, the last DVD store in Mexico City is dying for another reason: the complete discontinuation of films on physical media, increasingly limiting the cinematic experience to platforms like Netflix.

“There is a danger that things that exist only on streaming can be taken down; they come and go,” Christopher Nolan told the Washington Post in late 2023.

At the time, a joke by the filmmaker went viral during a Blu-ray screening of Oppenheimer in Los Angeles, where he said he had been overly careful to ensure that ” no evil streaming service could steal it from you.” Guillermo del Toro seconded Nolan.

“Physical media represents almost a level of responsibility akin to Fahrenheit 451 (where people memorized entire books and thus became the book they loved). If you own a Blu-ray or DVD copy of a movie you love… you are its custodian for future generations,” filmmaker del Toro said.

In the Ray Bradbury novel that this Mexican director references, books are banned and burned by firefighters, forcing book lovers to memorize them entirely in order to preserve their content.

Whether or not it was a coincidence with the criticisms of Nolan and del Toro, that same year mass production of films in physical format for distribution in Mexico ceased, notes Mario Alberto.

“Although we still have customers, it has become increasingly difficult to get the titles. All the releases from 2023 onwards no longer arrive, because the distributors no longer offer them. They only offer us more classic films, but only what they have left in their warehouses,” explained the store manager.

High Rents Forced Closure of its Second Branch

Thanks to streaming, the lack of physical format production, and rents that already exceed 70,000 pesos per month in the Historic Center, the second branch of El Buen Cine, on 5 de Mayo Street, closed at the end of 2025.

All of the above has led hundreds of film enthusiasts to find in El Buen Cine a haven for the preservation of artistic heritage. The collections of these cinephiles go beyond mere nostalgia. These customers don’t dismiss these films as relics of the past, but rather as a tool of power and resistance.

Jaime Ángel, a 45-year-old librarian at El Colegio de México, comes once a month. Mario Alberto tells him about the store’s new arrivals on each visit. And although he gives him a list of films he’s interested in, he always takes time to explore the aisles, as it’s part of his cinephile experience.

“There are two kinds of activities in life. Those that, when completed, bring an end to the process, and others whose purpose is to be done for their own sake. For me, exploring this store and watching the films in my collection falls into the second category.”

“I don’t buy them because I want to watch them now, but because I know I’ll want to watch them later. As long as you have your own movies, you’re taking power away from a corporation, and now you can choose how to enjoy cinema,” he emphasized while holding up six discs to add to his collection of 500 titles, both original and pirated.

Film Lovers, Between Refuge & Nostalgia

One of their most frequent customers, Rogelio de la Cruz, comes every two weeks to get new science fiction or Mexican films to watch with his wife and children.

“It gives me so much peace and happiness to know that the film is here, within my reach. Perhaps it’s similar to books. It will never be the same to leaf through and smell a book as it is to see it on a screen. I hope they never close the store. It would make me sad,” agreed Larisa García, a graphic designer.

“Sometimes I have a specific title in mind, but I like to explore the store , let myself be surprised, and end up buying a different movie. It’s like books. I like to hold the movies in my hands, collect them, and enjoy the ritual of taking them out and putting them back in their cases,” says the IPN professor.

Rogelio discovered good cinema a decade ago while browsing used bookstores. He has over 100 titles in his collection. El escapulario (1968) is one of his most prized possessions.

El escapulario (1968). Directed by Servando González. A woman on her deathbed calls the village priest and gives him a scapular, saying she knows of its great powers. Anyone who doesn’t believe in them will end up dead.

For her part, Larisa, at 45, has spent almost half her life collecting movies. “Since many of them were no longer shown on television, I thought buying them was a good way to watch them whenever I wanted,” she says.

“I like El Buen Cine because they have a wide variety of films, good prices, and the young man who works there is very friendly and knows what he’s talking about. I bought The Painted Veil (2006) there; it’s one of my favorites,” she says.

As soon as Videocentro and Blockbuster branches began to close and movies became scarce in department stores and at fairs, she searched online to see if a DVD store still existed. That’s how he discovered El Buen Cine.

For her, it’s impossible to choose a favorite film, and she names more than 10 from the 200 in her collection. They range from the Mexican film Él (1953) to The Bridges of Madison County (1995). But the French film Amélie (2001) is special to her.

“It’s a masterpiece that touches the soul. It has a perfect integration of red and green tones, both in the art and in the characters’ attire. It’s accompanied by music that makes you think that life is a series of amazing events worth experiencing,” she commented.

According to Mario Alberto, the vast majority of visitors to Buen Cine are men over 30. But there has also been a lot of interest from young people and women. One of them is 17-year-old Paola Chávez.

“I feel that when I have my films, they become a part of me. They aren’t something foreign to me. It’s very sad that they had to close the store, because then new films can no longer be yours in any way,” she says.

“Many things have been attributed to men. We grow up thinking that film is something only for them, and few of us give ourselves the opportunity to explore new things. I want to study film because I never saw it as a profession only for men,” she adds.

Paola’s mother took her to El Buen Cine, where she discovered The Pianist, a film she treasures in her personal collection, which has already reached 50 titles. Her favorite film is Aftersun (2022).

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