My rating	IMDb		Rotten Tomatoes
	Critics	Audience	Critics	Audience
8/10	88/100	7.7/10	97%	95%

Numbers obtained from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes on June 11, 2021.

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Once upon a time, In the Heights was supposed to be the summer event of 2020. The still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic delayed its release for a full year, and we are finally able to see it either in theaters or on HBO Max. That, of course, caused even more expectations about how well the movie would do. We’ll still find out the box office results but, based on the showing I attended on a Thursday evening, audiences are eager to see it in a big screen and get involved with the big musical numbers it has to offer!

I didn’t get to see In the Heights when it was on Broadway, so I was really excited to finally see it in theaters, and it didn’t disappoint! Created by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who also created Hamilton) and directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), In the Heights is a fun and uplifting movie, with a lot of dancing and great musical numbers.

We first meet our narrator, Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) on a beach, where he is telling a story to a group of children eager to listen – the origin of his name is one of the funniest moments in the movie. He introduces the audience to Washington Heights, a neighborhood in the north part of Manhattan, where he owns a bodega and talks about its residents: Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz), who is not really his grandmother but takes care of everyone in that block; Kevin Rosario (Jimmy Smits) who owns a cab company and whose daughter Nina (Leslie Grace) is attending Stanford; Vanessa (Melissa Barrera), who dreams about moving downtown and becoming a fashion designer, and so on.

Every character has a dream, and the movie explores how our dreams change and evolve. It also talks about the sacrifices made to achieve that dream, since all characters are either immigrants themselves or children of immigrants from Central America. They all thought of New York as a place to fulfill those dreams and that neighborhood is where all their cultures come together, thanks mainly to their common language (Spanish). That pride is well displayed during the song “Carnaval Del Barrio” and many of the songs mix Spanish and English in the lyrics.

Just a sidenote: there’s a Brazilian flag in the background during “Carnaval Del Barrio,” but since no Brazilian characters are actually in the movie, I’m assuming they all speak Spanish, which is what mainly binds them together despite their different countries of origin.

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The musical numbers are all very big, with a lot of choreography and hundreds of people involved, and you can’t help but be pulled in and follow those characters’ stories. One of the best musical numbers is “96,000,” which takes place mainly in a public swimming pool and it is very fun to watch.

One of the most emotional number is probably “Paciencia Y Fe” (Patience and Faith), sung by Abuela Claudia. Olga Merediz does a phenomenal job, and she steals the movie with that song.

It is, however, Anthony Ramos’s movie. He embodies Usnavi perfectly and shows us a wide range of emotions while trying to figure out what it is that truly makes us feel like we are home. The finale is, by far, the song that touched me the most and the one I could relate to the most as well. Ramos originated the dual roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the Broadway musical Hamilton. He’s also in A Star is Born, but it is really with In the Heights that he shines.

Of course, the movie does have its problems. It felt a bit long halfway through it, but it picks up the pace again and it ends on a high note.

Even for those who have never been to New York and might not fully understand all of the references to the A train or to the street numbers, In the Heights tells a universal story of feeling like you belong somewhere and how to change your dreams accordingly. Definitely worth it! Ah! And don’t forget to stay for the post-credit scene!