[ The 125 Essential Spanish-Language Movies ]
A Rotten Tomatoes List: https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/essential-spanish-language-movies-the-best-spanish-movies/
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125 titles
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsYalitza AparicioMarina de TaviraDiego Cortina AutreyA year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsCecilia RothMarisa ParedesCandela PeñaA comedy-drama about a bereaved mother, and overwrought actress, her jealous lover, and a pregnant nun.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsMercedes MoránGraciela BorgesMartín AdjemiánThe life of two women and their families in a small provincial town of Salta, Argentina.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsClaudio BrookSilvia PinalEnrique Álvarez FélixSimon, a deeply religious man living in the 4th century, wants to be nearer to God so he climbs a column. The Devil wants him to come down to Earth and is trying to seduce him.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsAntonio BanderasAsier EtxeandiaLeonardo SbaragliaA film director reflects on the choices he's made in life as the past and present come crashing down around him.
- DirectorMikhail KalatozovStarsSergio CorrieriSalvador WoodJosé GallardoFour vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era.
- DirectorLila AvilésStarsGabriela CartolAgustina QuinciTeresa SánchezA look at the working environment of a chambermaid in one of Mexico City's most luxurious hotels.
- DirectorSebastián LelioStarsPaulina GarcíaSergio HernándezDiego FontecillaA story set in Santiago and centered on Gloria, a free-spirited older woman, and the realities of her whirlwind relationship with a former naval officer whom she meets out in the clubs.
- DirectorJuan Antonio BardemStarsLucia BosèAlberto ClosasBruna CorràA couple having an affair strike a bicyclist with their car and do not offer aid out of fear of their relationship being exposed.
- DirectorGregory NavaStarsZaide Silvia GutiérrezDavid VillalpandoErnesto Gómez CruzAfter their family is killed in a government massacre, siblings Enrique and Rosa flee Guatemala and embark on a perilous journey to "El Norte": the United States.
- DirectorCarlos SauraStarsAna TorrentConchita PérezMayte SanchezIn the twilight of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, an 8-year-old orphan and her two sisters find shelter in the house of their stern aunt and try their best to acclimatize to a new reality. Can they summon up the courage to grow up?
- DirectorVíctor EriceStarsFernando Fernán GómezTeresa GimperaAna TorrentIn 1940, after watching and being traumatized by the movie Frankenstein (1931), a sensitive seven year-old girl living in a small Spanish village drifts into her own fantasy world.
- DirectorJorge GaggeroStarsNorma AleandroNorma ArgentinaMarcos MundstockA wealthy woman and her live-in housekeeper must adjust their entrenched routine and relationship when Buenos Aires is plunged into economic crisis.,
- DirectorDamián SzifronStarsDarío GrandinettiMaría MarullMónica VillaSix short stories that explore the extremities of human behavior involving people in distress.
- DirectorIssa LópezStarsPaola LaraJuan Ramón LópezNery ArredondoA dark fairy tale about a gang of five children trying to survive the horrific violence of the cartels and the ghosts created every day by the drug war.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsMaribel VerdúGael García BernalDaniel Giménez CachoIn Mexico, two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life and each other.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyHoracio SalinasZamira SaundersIn a corrupt, greed-fueled world, a powerful alchemist leads a messianic character and seven materialistic figures to the Holy Mountain, where they hope to achieve enlightenment.
- DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsCarlos GallardoConsuelo GómezJaime de HoyosA traveling mariachi is mistaken for a murderous criminal and must hide from a gang bent on killing him.
- DirectorFernanda ValadezStarsMercedes HernándezDavid IllescasJuan Jesús VarelaA mother travels across Mexico in search for her son whom authorities say died while trying to cross the borders into the United States.
- DirectorRoberto GavaldónStarsIgnacio López TarsoPina PellicerEnrique LuceroPoor and hungry peasant Macario wishes to have a good meal for All Saint's Day. After his wife cooks him a turkey he has three apparitions: The Devil, God, and the Death.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsErnesto AlonsoMiroslavaRita MacedoThe delirious journey of a mentally disordered man, who is obsessed with committing the perfect crime.
- DirectorJoshua MarstonStarsCatalina Sandino MorenoGuilied LopezOrlando TobónA pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately-needed money for her family.
- DirectorPatricio GuzmánStarsGaspar GalazLautaro NúñezLuís HenríquezA documentary about two different searches conducted in the Chilean Atacama Desert: one by astronomers looking for answers about the history of the cosmos, and one by women looking for the remains of loved ones killed by Pinochet's regime.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsDaniel Giménez CachoLola DueñasMatheus NachtergaeleBased on the novel by Antonio Di Benedetto written in 1956, on Don Diego de Zama, a Spanish officer of the seventeenth century settled in Asunción, who awaits his transfer to Buenos Aires.
- DirectorSamuel KishiStarsMartha Reyes AriasMaximiliano Nájar MárquezLeonardo Nájar MárquezTwo children emigrate to the US with their mother. Their days pass in a tiny flat waiting for her to come back as they hold on to the hope of visiting Disneyworld.
- DirectorTomás Gutiérrez AleaStarsSergio CorrieriDaisy GranadosEslinda NúñezA Cuban man cycles through his opinions and memories as the threat of foreign invasion intensifies and the rest of his family moves to Miami.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsAlfonso MejíaRoberto CoboEstela IndaA group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, as the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsPenélope CruzCarmen MauraLola DueñasAfter her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsMarisa ParedesEduardo NoriegaFederico LuppiAfter Carlos - a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War - arrives at an ominous boys' orphanage, he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets which he must uncover.
- DirectorJulia SolomonoffStarsGuillermo PfeningRafael FerroPaola BaldionNico leaves a promising acting career in Argentina after a romantic break-up with his married producer. He lands in New York City, lured into believing that his talent will help him succeed "on his own". But that's not what he discovers.
- DirectorWalter SallesStarsGael García BernalRodrigo de la SernaMía MaestroErnesto Guevara de la Serna, popularly known as Che, along with his friend Alberto Granado, decides to take a road trip across South America. His experiences on the journey transform him.
- DirectorJayro BustamanteStarsMaría Mercedes CoroySabrina De La HozMargarita KenéficAn aging paranoid war criminal, protected by his faithful wife, faces death while being haunted by the ghosts of his past.
- DirectorJosé Luis CuerdaStarsManuel LozanoFernando Fernán GómezUxía BlancoBased in 1936 Spain, Moncho is an outcast at school but is able to form a strong bond with his outspoken teacher. When fascism arrives to Spain, his teacher is considered an enemy of the regime & arrested.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsSilvia PinalJacqueline AndereEnrique RambalThe guests at an upper-class dinner party find themselves unable to leave.
- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsEmilio EchevarríaGael García BernalGoya ToledoAn amateur dog fighter, a supermodel, and a derelict assassin, all separately struggling to find love, find their lives transformed by a devastating car wreck in Mexico City.
- DirectorAlfonso ArauStarsMarco LeonardiLumi CavazosRegina TornéWhen tradition prevents her from marrying the man she loves, a young woman discovers she has a unique talent for cooking.
- DirectorMariana RondónStarsSamuel Lange ZambranoSamantha CastilloBeto BenitesA nine-year-old boy's preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother.
- DirectorBetzabé GarcíaStarsIrineo Osuna EncisoMaría Aura Zazueta LampharRamiro Osuna MorenoThree families live in a village partially submerged by water in Northwestern Mexico. Despite their loneliness and fear, they refuse to leave.
- DirectorJuan José CampanellaStarsRicardo DarínSoledad VillamilPablo RagoA retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.
- DirectorAlonso RuizpalaciosStarsTenoch HuertaSebastián AguirreIlse SalasTomas is too much for his lone mother so she sends him to live with his older brother Federico, aka Sombra, in Mexico City.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsGael García BernalLuis GneccoMercedes MoránAn inspector hunts down Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who becomes a fugitive in his home country in the late 1940s for joining the Communist Party.
- DirectorFernando TruebaStarsFernando Fernán GómezJorge SanzPenélope CruzA 1931 Spanish military deserter finds himself on a lonely farm until the farmer's four daughters pay a visit and he falls for all of them.
- DirectorAlejandro LandesStarsSofia BuenaventuraJulián GiraldoKaren QuinteroOn a remote mountaintop, eight kids with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow.
- DirectorMarcelo MartinessiStarsNorma CodasMargarita IrunAna BrunMarcelo Martinessi's stunning debut The Heiresses is an immersive and emotionally compelling look into the lives of the privileged, through the tribulations of a hesitant woman in quiet crisis.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsRosario FloresJavier CámaraDarío GrandinettiTwo men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.
- DirectorMaite AlberdiStarsSergio ChamyRomulo AitkenMarta OlivaresA private investigator in Chile hires someone to work as a mole at a retirement home where a client of his suspects the caretakers of elder abuse.
- DirectorFabián BielinskyStarsRicardo DarínGastón PaulsGraciela TenenbaumTwo con artists try to swindle a stamp collector by selling him a sheet of counterfeit rare stamps (the "nine queens").
- DirectorFernando FriasStarsJuan Daniel García TreviñoEmily May JampelXueming Angelina ChenIn Monterrey, Mexico, a young street gang spends their days dancing to slowed-down cumbia and attending parties. After a mix-up with a local cartel, their leader is forced to migrate to the U.S. but quickly longs to return home.
- DirectorLucio CastroStarsJuan BarberiniRamon PujolMía MaestroTwo men meet in Barcelona and after spending a day together they realize that they have already met twenty years ago.
- DirectorAntonio SantiniDan SicklesStarsJason CarriónPaxx MollAlberic PradosA documentary about the power of transformation told through the eyes of 9 trans-identifying individuals in Puerto Rico.
- DirectorPablo BergerStarsMaribel VerdúEmilio GaviraDaniel Giménez CachoA twist on the Snow White fairy tale that is set in 1920s Seville and centered on a female bullfighter.
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsJavier BardemBelén RuedaLola DueñasThe factual story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 28-year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsGael García BernalAlfredo CastroAntonia ZegersAn advertising executive comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile's 1988 referendum.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsCarmen MauraAntonio BanderasJulieta SerranoA television actress encounters a variety of eccentric characters after embarking on a journey to discover why her lover abruptly left her.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsFederico LuppiRon PerlmanClaudio BrookA mysterious device designed to provide its owner with eternal life resurfaces after four hundred years, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.
- DirectorSofía QuirósStarsSmashleen GutiérrezHumberto SamuelsHortensia SmithSelva (13) lives in a coastal town in the Caribbean. After the sudden disappearance of her only motherly figure, she is left to take care of her grandfather who doesn't want to live. Between shadows and wild games, she must decide if she will help her grandfather die, even though that means going through her last moments of childhood alone.
- DirectorFernando EimbckeStarsDiego CatañoDaniel MirandaEnrique ArreolaFlama and Moko are fourteen years old; they have been best friends since they were kids. They have everything they need to survive yet another boring Sunday: an apartment without parents, videogames, porn magazines, soft drinks and pizza delivery. The electricity company, Rita, the neighbor, Ulises, a pizza deliveryman, eleven seconds, the Real Madrid-Manchester game, some chocolate brownies and a horrible painting of ducks, all combine to break the harmony of what promised to be a placid Sunday, and reveal issues such as the parents' divorce, loneliness, the confusion between adolescent love and friendship, as well as frustration in adult life. "Temporada de Patos" is a movie that shows that, when the lights go off, we can see the stars.
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsBelén RuedaFernando CayoRoger PríncepA woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsGael García BernalFele MartínezJavier CámaraAn examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.
- DirectorPedro González-RubioStarsJorge MachadoRoberta PalombiniNatan Machado PalombiniBefore their inevitable farewell, Jorge, a young man of Mayan roots, and Natan, his half-Italian son, spend time together living off the Banco Chinchorro coral reef.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsSilvia PinalFrancisco RabalFernando ReyViridiana, a young nun about to take her final vows, pays a visit to her widowed uncle at the request of her Mother Superior.
- DirectorGerardo NaranjoStarsStephanie SigmanNoé HernándezIrene AzuelaAfter entering a beauty contest in Tijuana, a young woman witnesses drug-related murders and is forced to do the gang's bidding.
- DirectorLuis PuenzoStarsNorma AleandroHéctor AlterioChunchuna VillafañeDuring the final months of Argentinian Military Dictatorship in 1983, a high school teacher sets out to find out who the mother of her adopted daughter is.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróStarsLuis TosarMarta EturaAlberto San JuanCesar, a miserable man who works as an apartment concierge, takes a special interest in an attractive woman who lives there. He goes to great lengths to trouble her.
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsAna TorrentFele MartínezEduardo NoriegaWhile doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her faculty...
- DirectorJavier Fuentes-LeónStarsCristian MercadoTatiana AstengoManolo CardonaAn unusual ghost story set on the Peruvian seaside; a married fisherman struggles to reconcile his devotion to his male lover within his town's rigid traditions.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAxel JodorowskyBlanca GuerraGuy StockwellA former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless mother - the leader of a strange religious cult - and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name as he becomes "her arms".
- DirectorShaul SchwarzNarco Cultura (Spanish, English subtitles) takes viewers behind the scenes of narcocorridos, the most explosive and violent music subculture in America.
- DirectorAndrés WoodStarsMatías QuerAriel MatelunaManuela MartelliTwo 12-year-old Chilean children from different social classes become friends in 1973. They both discover each other's world as political tensions in their country increase.
- DirectorTono ErrandoJavier MariscalFernando TruebaStarsEman Xor OñaLimara MenesesMario GuerraChico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey - in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero - brings heartache and torment.
- DirectorDominga SotomayorStarsDemian HernándezAntar MachadoMagdalena TótoroDuring the summer of 1990 in Chile, people begin to feel a growing sense of freedom and three teenagers face their first loves and fears.
- DirectorPablo TraperoStarsGuillermo FrancellaGastón CocchiaralePeter LanzaniThe true story of the Puccio Clan, a family who kidnapped and killed people in the 80s.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsCatherine DeneuveFernando ReyFranco NeroShortly after her mother's death, an innocent and youthful woman will find refuge into the household of her middle-aged aristocratic guardian, who will submit her to his sexual advances.
- DirectorCary Joji FukunagaStarsPaulina GaitanMarco Antonio AguirreLeonardo AlonsoA young Honduran girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the U.S. border.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsManuela VelascoFerran TerrazaJorge-Yamam SerranoA television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsPenélope CruzMilena SmitIsrael ElejaldeThe story of two mothers who bond in unexpected way after giving birth the same day.
- DirectorTomás Gutiérrez AleaJuan Carlos TabíoStarsJorge PerugorríaVladimir CruzMirta IbarraStory of two men who are opposites: one gay, the other straight; one a fierce communist, the other a fierce individualist; one suspicious, the other accepting; and how they come to love each other.
- DirectorFabián BielinskyStarsRicardo DarínManuel RodalDolores FonziA deluded taxidermist plans the perfect crime.
- DirectorJuan José CampanellaStarsRicardo DarínHéctor AlterioNorma AleandroA dissatisfied 40-year-old, separated and without time for his own daughter and girlfriend must rethink his life when his father decides to marry his mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, by church.
- DirectorCarlos SorinStarsJavier LombardoAntonio BenedictiJaviera BravoThree people and a baby set off on separate journeys, along the same road; their disparate dreams and stories intertwine amidst the breathtaking deserted Patagonic route.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsMercedes MoránCarlos BellosoAlejandro Urdapilleta16-year-old Amalia looks to save the soul of a middle-aged doctor.
- DirectorJoaquín CociñaCristóbal LeónStarsAmalia KassaiRainer KrauseKarina HylandTells the story of Maria, a young woman who takes refuge in a house in southern Chile after escaping from a German colony.
- DirectorJorge Michel GrauStarsFrancisco BarreiroPaulina GaitanAlan ChávezWhen the patriarch of the family passes away, the teenage children must take responsibility for the family chores: the preparation of the rituals, the hunting and putting the all-important meat on the table. These newfound responsibilities are even more daunting, however, when you live in the city and happen to be a family of cannibals.
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsEduardo NoriegaPenélope CruzChete LeraA very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsAlfredo CastroAmparo NogueraHéctor MoralesA man is obsessed with John Travolta's disco dancing character from Saturday Night Fever (1977).
- DirectorCarlos SauraStarsIsmael MerloAlfredo MayoJosé María PradaThree men go hunting rabbits during a hot day. Heat and talking about events happened in the past make them angry, until they go totally crazy.
- DirectorClaudia LlosaStarsMagaly SolierSusi SánchezEfraín SolísFausta is suffering from a rare disease called the Milk of Sorrow, which is transmitted through the breast milk of pregnant women who were abused or raped during or soon after pregnancy. While living in constant fear and confusion due to this disease, she must face the sudden death of her mother. She chooses to take drastic measures to not follow in her mother's footsteps.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsPenélope CruzLluís HomarBlanca PortilloHarry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsFrancisco RabalMarga LópezRita MacedoA priest in a poor community lives a charitable life in accordance with his religious principles, but many others do not return the favor.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsMarisa ParedesJuan EchanoveCarme EliasLeo writes trashy romance novels under a pseudonym but as she struggles in her relationship with her husband, she finds her output becoming darker.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyBrontis JodorowskyJosé LegarretaA mysterious black-clad gunfighter wanders a mystical Western landscape encountering multiple bizarre characters.
- DirectorLucy MulloyStarsDariel ArrechagaAnailín de la Rúa de la TorreJavier Núñez FloriánIn Havana, Raul dreams of escaping to Miami. Accused of assault, he appeals to Elio to help him reach the forbidden world 90 miles across the ocean. One night, full of hope, they face the biggest challenge of their lives.
- DirectorFernando León de AranoaStarsJavier BardemLuis TosarJosé Ángel EgidoThis is the story of those who live as if every day was a constant Sunday, those who spend their Mondays in the sun. The story of people who worked in a dockyard but are now unemployed.
- DirectorJulio MedemStarsNajwa NimriFele MartínezNancho NovoIn Lapland's cold Arctic Circle, under the eternal midnight sun, unfavourable circumstances reunite two kindred spirits. And governed by circular motifs woven by faith and love, they must answer a pivotal question. Can they deny destiny?
- DirectorNatalia CabralOriol EstradaStarsPachy MéndezFrank PerozoCarolina RohanaAs her 15th birthday approaches, Miriam doesn't know how to explain to her family that the boyfriend she met online is black.
- DirectorJorge Pérez Solano"La Negrada" is the first mexican feature film about the Afro-mexican community, filmed entirely with people from different towns around the Costa Chica in Oaxaca.
- DirectorJosé María CabralStarsJean JeanRamón Emilio CandelarioJudith Rodriguez PerezJulián finds love and a reason for living in the last place imaginable: the Dominican Republic's Najayo Prison. His romance, with fellow prisoner Yanelly, must develop through sign language and without the knowledge of dozens of guards.
- DirectorDiana PeraltaStarsSasha MerciDarlene DemoriziHéctor AníbalTwo "ride or die" sisters raised in NYC reunite with their estranged brother in the Dominican Republic to clean out their late father's childhood home. The siblings laugh, brawl, and face their demons as they come to terms with letting go of their last connection to their motherland.
- DirectorCiro GuerraStarsNilbio TorresJan BijvoetAntonio BolívarThe story of the relationship between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of forty years to search the Amazon for a sacred healing plant.