10 Best Movies from Costa Rica to Watch First

10 Essential Films from Costa Rica

Ranked native cinema in Costa Rica’s own creative voice.

1. 

   1. Maikol Yordan de Viaje Perdido

   2014

   When the bank threatens to seize his beloved family farm, a bumbling, good-hearted country man sets off on a globe-trotting scramble of contests and schemes to raise the money in time. A hugely popular Costa Rican slapstick comedy.

2. 

   2. Hombre de fe

   Keylor Navas, Hombre de Fe · 2017

   This biographical drama traces the journey of Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas from his humble small-town beginnings to the heights of elite football, sustained by his faith. An inspirational sports story.

3. 

   3. Maikol Yordan 2: La cura lejana

   2018

   Having saved the family farm, the lovable bumbler sets off again on a far-flung adventure — this time to find a cure for his ailing grandmother's mysterious illness. A broad Costa Rican comedy sequel.

4. 

   4. Two Waters

   Dos Aguas · 2014

   A Costa Rican boy dreams of attending a soccer school his family cannot afford, and his devoted older brother resolves to get him there by any means necessary. A tender drama about brotherhood and sacrifice.

5. 

   5. Murder at El Meneo

   Asesinato en el Meneo · 2001

   Two bumbling detectives try to crack a murder case without getting killed, seduced, or outsmarted along the way. A Costa Rican crime parody.

6. 

   6. I Have Electric Dreams

   Tengo sueños eléctricos · 2022

   A sixteen-year-old girl caught between her mother's household and her volatile, estranged father clings fiercely to him, navigating the tenderness and turbulence of adolescence. A raw, intimate coming-of-age drama.

7. 

   7. Memories of a Burning Body

   Memorias de un cuerpo que arde · 2024

   Weaving together the testimonies of three women raised in an era when female sexuality was taboo, this film gives their long-silenced desires and awakenings voice through a single 65-year-old woman. A sensual, liberating docudrama.

8. 

   8. Of Love and Other Demons

   Del amor y otros demonios · 2009

   In colonial Cartagena, a young noble girl bitten by a rabid dog is believed to be possessed and shut away in a convent to be exorcised, where she and a troubled young priest are drawn to each other. Adapted from Gabriel García Márquez.

9. 

   9. Land of Ashes

   Ceniza negra · 2019

   On the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, a thirteen-year-old girl left in the care of her grandfather confronts loss and the mystery of death, imagining that the dead simply shed their skins to become something else. A dreamlike coming-of-age drama.

10. 

    10. The Awakening of the Ants

    El despertar de las hormigas · 2019

    A young Costa Rican mother stretched thin by two children and a household she runs alone begins to quietly rebel when her husband insists on a third child, sensing that something in her life must change. A subtle drama of awakening.