What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Obstacles
Eloy Urroz Kanan · Book · 2006
If you loved The Obstacles, start with The Clone (Glória Perez, 2001) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 films, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Obstacles across media.
You were drawn to The Obstacles because you enjoy how reality and fiction blur when characters confront their own fractured identities.
Films on the same thread
Amores Perros
Alejandro González Iñárritu · Film · 2000
Explores: Social Inequality, Redemption, Consequences of Actions.
Like the intricate storytelling in The Obstacles, this film uses a fatalistic structure to force characters into a collision course where their actions and identities become inextricably linked.
The Prestige
Christopher Nolan · Film · 2006
Shares a thread with The Obstacles: Identity.
The bitter rivalry and obsession in this film echo the meta-fictional competition found in The Obstacles, where the lines between the creator and the creation dissolve into deception.
Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro · Film · 2006
Explores: Escapism, Loss of Innocence, Good vs Evil.
This film captures the same sense of escapism and loss of innocence present in The Obstacles, framing a young protagonist's journey through a world defined by imaginative projection.
Au Revoir les Enfants
Louis Malle · Film · 1987
Explores: Innocence Lost, Hidden Identity, Friendship During Wartime.
Much like the coming-of-age trajectory in The Obstacles, this story explores the fragility of identity and the devastating impact of hidden truths during a formative period of life.
Series on the same thread
The Clone
Glória Perez · Series · 2001
Explores: Forbidden Love, Cultural Clash, Identity Crisis.
The identity crisis and ethical dilemmas of cloning mirror the central preoccupation of The Obstacles, where the boundaries of self are challenged by the nature of one's existence.
The O.C.
Josh Schwartz · Series · 2003
Shares a thread with The Obstacles: Identity.
This drama mirrors the social friction and identity exploration found in The Obstacles, as a young man from a different world attempts to navigate a new, privileged reality.
El Chavo del Ocho
Roberto Gómez Bolaños · Series · 1973
Shares a thread with The Obstacles: Orphanhood.
While tonally distinct, this series reflects the orphanhood and community dynamics that ground the youthful, often isolated characters struggling to define themselves in The Obstacles.
Rubí
Yolanda Vargas Dulché · Series · 2004
Explores: Social Climbing, Class Envy, Ambition.
The intense focus on social climbing and betrayal in this telenovela parallels the way characters in The Obstacles manipulate their personal narratives to overcome their circumstances.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
The experimental, cinematic storytelling of this podcast captures the same interest in the human condition and moral ambiguity that defines the meta-fictional landscape of The Obstacles.
The Orphans
The Light and Tragic Company · Podcast · 2025
This audio drama echoes the themes of love, loss, and strangers sharing faces found in The Obstacles, pushing the boundaries of identity in an increasingly surreal, hostile environment.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Obstacles a story about two different teenagers?
Yes, The Obstacles tells the stories of two teenagers, Ricardo and Elias, in alternating chapters. The narrative follows their lives as they come of age while existing as characters within each other's novels in a world dominated by their own fictions.
What is the setting for the character Ricardo in The Obstacles?
In The Obstacles, the character Ricardo lives in Mexico City. His story involves his mother, who is mourning the recent death of her husband, providing a domestic backdrop to the metafictional narrative structure of the book.
When was The Obstacles published?
The Obstacles was published in 2006. Written by Eloy Urroz Kanan, it is considered one of the most remarkable books of contemporary Mexican literature, focusing on the lives of two young writers navigating a reality defined by their own creative work.
How does the narrative structure work in The Obstacles?
The Obstacles utilizes alternating chapters to tell the stories of its two protagonists, Ricardo and Elias. This structure highlights their unique relationship, as the two teenagers are written as characters within the novels that each of them is currently writing.