Tomás, a boy who’s been acting up, is sent to Mexico City to live with his brother Sombra. It is 1999, Sombra’s university is on strike, but as he puts it, he’s “on strike from the strike.”

Sombra (Tenoch Huerta) is dark, while light-skinned Tomás (Sebastián Aguirre) is a “guero,” literally meaning unfertilized egg. With a friend Santos and Ana, a student leader Sombra is crushing on, the four do — well, not much.

A faint breeze of a story about finding a singer from the ’60s connects the film with its obvious New Wave influences, as does the freewheeling, black-and-white camerawork. Director Alonso Ruizpalacios has fun with moments like the actors breaking character to discuss whether the screenplay’s any good.

Agreeable this film certainly is, but the shagginess never seems to take shape.