"Y Tu Mamá También," the tale of a sexually-charged road trip, stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Maribel Verdu, shown above, and opens nationwide on Friday.

Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón's new film is a teenage sex romp. Yet unlike the Hollywood variety, Cuarón manages to infuse it with observations of Mexico's politics and culture, not to mention a lot of sex. What emerges is a candid look at Mexico without the mariachis.

"Y Tu Mamá También" opens nationwide on April 5. Part of a resurgence of Mexican films, beginning with last year's Oscar contender "Amores Perros," "Y Tu Mamá También" ("And Your Mom, Too") is intended to raise more than a few eyebrows with its observations about life in a rapidly developing country.

Taking place before the ousting of the 71-year PRI regime, two young men (Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal) persuade a sexy housewife (Maribel Verdú) to go on a trip with them to an imaginary beach, Heaven's Mouth. Along the way, we see the Mexican military harassing farmers, upper class extravagance, drug-inspection road blocks, and, of course, the beautiful untouched beaches of Mexico's coast. None of it looks like the Hollywood gringo version of Mexico we've seen (think "The Mexican" or "Traffic"), but in a way that's the point.

Photos from IFC Films

Maribel Verdu, Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal star in Alfonso Cuarón's "Y Tu Mamá También."

"This movie is an observation of a country, which in our opinion is a teenage country seeking its identity as a grown-up country," said Cuarón, who wrote the script with his brother Carlos.

Sometimes the observations became so intense that it verged on documentary, as in the case of a scene in which a character looks for his sister at a protest rally. The demonstration was not staged and, in fact, was one of a series that occurred after police invaded Mexico City's National University and arrested hundreds of students – 150,000 people protested the action and became part of the film.

Other scenes show the various road blocks and military presence that dot Mexico's rural areas. Many of these were also real.

"The road blocks, you're not supposed to shoot those things," Cuarón said. "We stole those shots. After the second or third time we crossed the road block, they started to become suspicious."

Gael Garcia Bernal, Maribel Verdu and Diego Luna take audiences through a realistic visual observation of Mexico as they go on a road trip to the fictional Heaven's Mouth beach in "Y Tu Mamá También."

Perhaps the most realistic aspect of the film, the sex between hormonal teenagers, has also drawn the most fire from conservative groups wanting to restrict children from seeing the film. In Mexico, all films are rated by a government institution (RTC, or the Radio, Televisión y Cinematografía), essentially giving the government the power to censor unfavorable films. Cuarón sued the government for its "C" rating, comparable to an NC-17-rating, because of a lack of definition of what exactly the rating means. The government, even under the Vicente Fox regime, responded with hostility.

"We sued the government, and they punished us by sending inspectors into the theaters, not letting you through unless you can prove you're over 18, even if you look like you're 45," Cuarón said.

The sexual honesty of the film reflects the reality of Mexican life unlike pornography, which is by definition dishonest about sex. Instead, the tone of the film is more humorous and playful, making it feel more like "Road Trip" than "Deep Throat."

"This film is for kids, I think," said Bernal, who plays Julio. Noting that countries like Spain and Chile allowed children as young as 12 and 13 to see the film, Bernal said, "Are those kids more developed than Mexican or American kids?"

Indeed, the Motion Picture Association of America, Hollywood's rating institution, refused to give an R rating, forcing the film to be released unrated to avoid cuts. Even with puritanical forces against it, the film broke box office records in Mexico, suggesting that people are responding to the relevance of the film's issues. Meanwhile, Cuarón continues his litigation for a fairer ratings system.

"Part of our plea was to let the kids go if accompanied by their parents," Cuarón said. "They said no, because the bureaucrats know what's better for your kids than the parents. We want to bring responsibility in education back to the parents, not the bureaucrats."

Behind the ratings squabble is a real cultural war going on between the politicians and the artists. Cuarón (who directed the high-profile flop "Great Expectations") along with his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Oscar-nominated for "Sleepy Hollow") and director Guillermo del Toro ("Blade 2") are just some of the expatriates forced to leave Mexico for Hollywood. As a result, Mexican films have suffered until Alejandro Iñárritu's "Amores Perros" last year proved that filmmaking conditions in Mexico were improving.

While Vicente Fox represents a relaxation of governmental patronizing, the regime is still largely conservative and emphasizes athletics over the arts. The two young stars of "Y Tu Mamá" want to change that.

"Films are the ambassadors of a country," Bernal said.

"If Mexico is known in the world, it's because of its cultural movement, its music, paintings and movies," said Luna, who plays Tenoch in the film. "This is the first movie that I have the chance to show the whole world. The world is waiting for us, so we have to take the chance and do it on our own."