Co-written by Nobel prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez (who makes a cameo appearance), Mary My Dearest is a tragic love story in two parts: The first is the capricious reunion of a cat burglar and his former mistress, María. They become partners in a traveling magicians show, "Lothario and Euridicie," and for a time the magic spills over into their lives. The second part begins with the separation of the lovers by pure chance. Driving to the city of Puebla to meet Hector, María has car trouble and unwittingly seeks help at a mental institution. The two lovers, then, become victims to a kind of fatality that they are powerless to change. Tomás Pérez Turrent reported in the International Film Guide, "In this, his tenth feature film, Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, confirms those qualities which have placed him among the most important directors in present-day Mexican cinema. Once again, he demonstrates his unique powers of observation of the behavior, customs, myth and values of the Mexican middle-class, caught in their everyday moods. But, at the same time, while appraising this seemingly banal everydayness, Hermosillo is capable of penetrating beyond it to the fantastic, without any barrier to separate it from reality." Mary My Dearest surmounted a second barrier, that of the commercial Mexican cinema. The film was produced under a cooperative arrangement between the University of Vera Cruz and the Union of Independent Actors with many prominent thespians and film technicians donating their services, all in an attempt to advance an alternative cinema.