There’s nothing strange in thinking that the world of wrestling is a little on the camp side, after all it’s a ‘sport’ that finds grown men in skimpy shiny outfits, constantly grappling with one another as much as they can in front of an audience. Talk about kinky.

It’s no surprise to learn then that in Mexico, the spiritual home of wrestling, they have a type of male wrestler (luchador) who performs in the ring in drag, known as an exótico.

Director Roger Ross Williams makes his scripted directorial debut with his account of Saúl Armendáriz, who rose to fame in the eighties in the wrestling ring.

Already involved in the world of wrestling in El Paso, Texas is Saúl (Gael Garcia Bernal); he is a lowly luchador in the world of lucha libre, but he has aspirations to be so much more.

He then meets trainer Sabrina (Roberta Colindrez), who sees the potential in him, and sees him more than the ‘runt’ he plays in the ring now.

This gives Saúl the confidence he needs, to embrace his feminine side and introduce the world to his new alter ego, Cassandro. But his exótico isn’t exactly greeted with open arms initially, with him not only having to fight his opponent but also a homophobic crowd.

It doesn’t deter him however, as he fights his way to the top, looking fabulous with it, in order to have the only name on the lips of the crowd his.

Despite the fact that wrestling already comes across as an activity that would make its audience embrace its feminine side, the role of the exótico appears to be region specific to Mexico. And their role apparently is to take an already camp pursuit and, well, make it camper.

It’s an interesting arm to the world of wrestling and one that certainly warrants exploration. Sadly Williams’ film is very much focused on the character of Cassandro, and no other, which is a shame, as it’s an interesting area of masculinity as whole worth looking at.

But as it stands, Garcia Bernal is terrific as the wrestler with a dream, who has a lot of issues going on in his life in terms of his relationship with his parents, who are no longer together, and the man in his life who also happens to be married with children. Garcia Bernal has something of the Peter Pan about him, as he doesn’t appear to be aging, looking exactly the same, even with make-up, as he has for the last twenty years.

He certainly plays the part in the ring, with the physical nature that comes with the role, with some impressive wrestling moves. Outside the ring however, things are somewhat less dramatic. Perhaps its Williams’ background in documentaries, giving his story a more realistic sheen, but it just feels the film could have benefited from being just as theatrical outside of the ring as it is in it.

It also introduces the character of del Santo - played by the legend himself Jorge Rodriguez – who is always seen in his silver wrestling mask. In real life he is a professional wrestler, actor and political activist, even presenting his own talk show on Mexican TV, with his mask still on, which features in the film. Now as interesting as Saúl’s journey is, this guy sounds like he should have a biography all of his own.

That’s not to say the director isn’t playful with the material, even going as far as reducing the screen ratio, to make it more square-like – presumably like a wrestling ring, it’s just not quite enough though.

Although it does a great job in highlighting the role of the exótico in general, Cassandro is lacking the kind of theatre present in the ring, everywhere else, and therefore makes Cassandro’s extraordinary story really quite ordinary.

Or putting it in wrestling terms it’s an adequate half-nelson, but really a full nelson would have impressed more.