REVIEWS
Post-film thoughts.
Love is the Monster: Abuela in Action
The tug-of-war between Abuela and her daughter is one of the biggest ways Love is the Monster drives the narrative forward. García and Regidor portray this friction intensely and authentically. Some days, they are civil. Others, they quarrel over how to best take care of the grandchild. The heat to their performance is felt beyond the screen.
Where the River Begins: The Jungle Decides
Juan Andrés Arango’s third feature film captures an incredibly personal and honest story led by amazing non-professional actors, making the raw emotion that much more impressive. Each scene feels naturalistic and quietly beautiful, letting the viewer immerse themselves in the lives of the characters and, as a result, root for Yajaira and María from the get-go.
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo: Queerness in All Its Grandeur
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo is a reinvented Western, in which the sad and lonely cowboy is replaced with a vengeful teenage girl, and the luxuriant mountains with the scorching plains.
Underland: Immersive Subterranean Cinema
Underland premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival and is based on Robert Macfarlane’s novel of the same name. Director Robert Petit captured the stunning visuals and philosophical implications of various “underlands” or subterranean caves, storm drains, and even a lab two kilometers below the Earth’s surface.
EXODUS: The Uncertainties of Transitions and Human Relationships
Focusing on the life of two women post-incarceration, the documentary short film delivers a raw, compelling showcase of Trinity Copeland and Assia Serrano’s stories, experiences, and struggles after they get out of prison and return to their “normal” world.
Rains Over Babel: Eclectic Retribution and (Literally) Dancing With the Devil
Rains Over Babel (2025) is director Gala del Sol’s feature film debut at Sundance 2025, and what an intimately enthralling and adventurous debut it is. Through three separate character arcs that are also closely interwoven with each other, the film highlights the trials of not just coming to terms with your identity but being able to openly embrace it and celebrate it with the people who matter.
Como Si La Tierra Se Las Hubiera Tragado: Being a Woman
The short opens to Olivia sitting in a bus surrounded by the ambient sounds of traffic. The greyscale switches to a warm palette with a flashback of a memory from her childhood—her mom braiding her hair and telling her, “A pretty girl like you, they’ll eat you up.”
The Exiles (Los Tortuga): Textured Kinship
Spanish director Belén Funes’ The Exiles (original title: Los Tortuga) peers at that fragile relationship through the lens of its two main characters as they attempt to strike a balance between their own perceptions of each other and reality.
Society of the Snow: The Crash Between Hope and Despair
Directed by Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona, Society of the Snow (2023) portrays what the 29 survivors endured during 72 days to make it out of the cold mountain range alive. The film is an ode to perseverance, hope, friendship, and most importantly, brotherhood.