45 Best Hispanic And Latinx Movies Of All Time

Winner of the 2018 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, A Fantastic Woman tells the story of Marina, a waitress and nightclub singer, and her older lover, Orlando. The pair were planning their future together when suddenly Orlando falls ill and dies. Marina, a transgender woman, is then forced to confront his family—who wants nothing to do with her—and society, as she fights for her right to privacy, love, and to simply be. “With strong acting and excellent cinematography Una mujer fantástica examines the themes of loss, love, and rejection to underscore the protagonist’s inner strength and dignity,” says Martínez.

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Based on the existentialist novel by Antonio Di Benedetto, Zama tells the story of Don Diego de Zama, a languishing officer of the Spanish Crown who awaits a letter from the King granting him a transfer from the outpost to which he has been assigned to a more prestigious location. As he waits, in vain, he suffers small humiliations due to lust, plus the tasks given to him by successive Governors. When the letter never arrives, Zama loses hope and decides to join a party of soldiers determined to track down a legendary bandit.

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This Academy Award-winning film follows the relationship between retired criminal court investigator Benjamín Espósito and department chief Irene Menéndez-Hastings as they further investigate a rape and murder case in 1970s Argentina. Benjamin is writing a novel based on the twenty-five year old unresolved case, which still haunts him. But his search for truth puts him in the middle of a legal nightmare as the mystery of the wicked crime continues to unfold in real time.

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This award-winning film follows three relentless teenagers, Sombra (Tenoch Huerta), Santos, and Tomás, Sombra’s kid brother who is sent to live with him by their lone mother. Taking place during the 1999 student strikes in Mexico City, these teen boys must find a way to kill time. Their mission: To find Epigmenio Cruz, a former Mexican folk-rock star who “made Bob Dylan cry,” during a road trip through Mexico City.

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In Neighboring Sounds, the lives of the middle-class residents of a neighborhood in Recife, Brazil take an unexpected turn with the arrival of an independent private security firm. The presence of these men brings a feeling of safety, yet anxiety in a city run by fear and crime. Kleber Mendonça Filho’s film comments on class relations and reflects on Brazilian history, violence, and noise.

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A surrealist masterpiece from director Luis Buñuel, El ángel exterminador tells the story of a group of high-society, wealthy aristocrats who mysteriously find themselves unable to leave a lavish dinner party. The film depicts the chaotic events and behaviors that ensue as the guests slowly lose their minds, uncover unspeakable secrets, and bend morality. This satirical and allegorical movie was included in “The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made” list by the New York Times in 2004.

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This Mexican documentary follows a mother’s tireless crusade to get justice for her daughter’s murder after Mexico’s legal system fails them. Before her murder in 2010, in front of the Government Palace of Chihuahua, Marisela was a prominent activist against femicide in Juárez, Mexico after her daughter, Rubi, was allegedly killed by her former boyfriend, the El Paso Times reported. The film, which won the Ariel Award for Best Documentary Feature Film, details evidence of corruption and cover-ups in the highest levels of government.

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A four-time Academy Award nominee, City of God is an epic crime film adapted from the 1997 book of the same name. It is set among one of Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious slums, Cidade de Deus, or “city of God.” In the midst of the oppressive organized crime and violence that riddles the city, a young boy pursues his dreams of becoming a professional photographer. His camera lens becomes an artistic window through which he sees the harsh realities of his surroundings, and, ultimately, his way out.

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Taking place in a seaside town in the Dominican Republic, Sand Dollars follows Noeli, a young Dominican woman working as a sex worker, and her lover and client, Anne, a much older French woman. Despite the transactional nature of their relationship, Anne is in love with Noeli; all the while, Noeli plans to use her to get a European visa so she can travel to Barcelona and reconnect with her mother. “Thought-provoking and intriguing, the film enhances the exploration of queer love, abandonment, and colonial power,” says Martínez.

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La mujer sin cabeza, which translates to “the headless woman,” is an Argentine psychological thriller directed by Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel. The film follows Veronica (María Onetto), a middle-aged, successful dentist experiencing a crisis of identity. While driving down a deserted road, Veronica is distracted trying to answer her cell phone and hits something. After realizing she may have killed someone, she slowly descends into a state of paranoia and isolation. Add to that her unconscious battle with guilt after cheating on her husband, Veronica’s world begins to crumble.

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La ciénaga or, “the swamp,” revolves around the story of a self-pitying bourgeois woman and her family who spend their summer vacation in a small rural town in Salta, Argentina. After injuring herself, Mecha, a mother in her 50s, begins to rely on drinking and grows resentful of her Amerindian servants. Tali, Mecha’s cousin, lives nearby and starts to visit to escape her crowded home. After a while, the domestic situations in both homes expose family mysteries and create tensions that boil over into violence. Director and writer Lucrecia Martel won the Sundance Institute/NHK Award in 1999 for the screenplay.

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The Milk of Sorrow (La teta asustada) is a slow, meditative Peruvian-Spanish drama that follows the fears of abused women during the internal conflict in Peru. Fausta, after growing up on stories of the horrors that occurred during the war, has a debilitating fear of men and rape. As a result, she carries a potato in her vagina to dissuade any attempts of sexual abuse. Throughout the film, she battles health concerns due to her preventative method and the aftermath of her mother’s death. “Centering on an Indigenous female protagonist, [the film] articulates painful historical events and underscores the brutality suffered by Indigenous populations,” says Martínez.

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This vibrant romance retells the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice using Rio de Janeiro carnival as a backdrop. Young lovers Orfeu and Eurydice’s budding relationship is threatened by a hitman dressed as Death, who’s after Eurydice, and Orfeu’s vengeful fiancée Mira. Awash with bossa nova, samba, and the colorful favelas of Rio, Black Orpheus is a treat for the eyes and ears.

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Starring Benjamin Bratt as Miguel Piñero, Piñero recounts the turbulent life of the Nuyorican poet-playwright-actor. Piñero, a convict at Sing-Sing, defied all odds when his play Short Eyes, which he wrote during his second incarceration, was nominated for six Tony Awards in 1975. His work is credited with being the precursor for rap and hip-hop. Although Piñero died young at age 40, his legend lives on.

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This Oscar-nominated film spans the life of Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem) from his early childhood in rural Cuba to his exile and death in New York City. In the late ’50s, Arenas joins the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro, and by the early ’60s he’s living in Havana. But under Castro’s rule, his writing and openly gay behavior gets him into trouble. He spends two years behind bars, writing letters for his fellow inmates and smuggling out a novel before ultimately fleeing Cuba for the U.S. by boat-lift.

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This coming-of-age Disney Channel Original Movie follows the girls of Marshall Middle School’s dance team. When their dance team coach retires at the beginning of the new school year, the girls are crushed. Luckily, their new biology teacher and former dancer Ms. Bartlett agrees to mentor them. Their first competition is a disaster, but thanks to their “Sí, se puede” motto, they slowly improve. You’ll laugh and cry watching this film about girlhood, troubled relationships, insecurities, and poverty.

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While Alexander Hamilton, the historical figure himself, was a white man, the Broadway musical Hamilton deserves a spot on this list for its predominantly Latinx cast. With a score that blends elements of hip-hop, jazz, and R&B, this award-winning production tells the story of the American founding father and first secretary of the treasury in a way that’s engaging, plus educational.

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From the mind of Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda and playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes comes a deeply Latinx tale: In the Heights. The film version of the 2005 Broadway musical follows characters from the largely Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights. There’s Usnavi, a bodega owner who hopes for a better life, Nina, who returns home from Stanford after she can’t afford to pay tuition, and Vanessa, who dreams of becoming a fashion designer in the big city. The film is a vibrant, kaleidoscope dream that explores community, racism, and gentrification.

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If you loved Coco, you’ll love Disney’s Encanto. This animated film tells the story of the Madrigals, a magical family who lives in the hidden mountains of Colombia. For generations, the charmed place which the family lives has blessed every child with a unique magical power, well, except for Mirabel. But the powerless little sister soon discovers her unique gift when she becomes the last hope for saving the magic that surrounds her family’s home.

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A masterclass in creative filmmaking, in Amores perros, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, a horrific car crash links three different stories and people in Mexico City. There’s the teenager from the slums who finds himself in the world of dogfighting in order to make money, a model whose serious leg injury threatens her career, and a mysterious hitman. Each of their lives connects in different ways and includes the presence of dogs.

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