6 Best Movies from Guatemala to Watch First

6 Essential Films from Guatemala

Ranked native cinema in Guatemala’s own creative voice.

1. 

   1. Ixcanul

   2015

   On a coffee plantation at the foot of an active volcano, a seventeen-year-old Kaqchikel Maya girl promised in marriage to the foreman longs instead for the wider world beyond the mountains, and a reckless choice puts her family's fragile life at risk. A quietly powerful drama.

2. 

   2. La Llorona

   2019

   A retired Guatemalan general accused of genocide against the Mayan people is besieged in his mansion by protesters, while inside the house a mysterious new maid and the vengeful spirit of a weeping woman close in. A haunting political ghost story.

3. 

   3. The Dumbass

   Puro Mula · 2011

   A twenty-eight-year-old slacker who spends his days drinking beer and strumming guitar has his lazy routine upended when his sister leaves her six-year-old in his care. A broad Guatemalan comedy.

4. 

   4. September

   Septiembre, un llanto en silencio · 2017

   Left deaf and motherless by a bombing during Guatemala's armed conflict in the 1980s, a small girl is raised alone by her grieving father as the fear of war hangs over the country. A tender wartime drama.

5. 

   5. The Silence of Neto

   El silencio de Neto · 1994

   A sensitive boy chafes against his stifling middle-class family during the tumult of the 1954 coup that toppled Guatemala's elected government, coming of age as his country is transformed. A gentle, nostalgic drama and a landmark of Guatemalan film.

6. 

   6. Aquí me quedo

   2010

   Adrift and unsure of himself, a young man seeks guidance from the one person he still trusts — his uncle, buried in the cemetery fifteen years earlier — visiting the grave to sort out his life. A whimsical, bittersweet comedy-drama.