Best Costa Rican drama movies
A curated collection of popular drama movies from Costa Rica.
Alsino and the Condor (1982)
Alsino and the Condor (1982)
Alsino, a boy of 10 or 12, lives with his grandmother in a remote area of Nicaragua. He's engulfed in the war between rebels and government troops when a US advisor orders the army to open a staging area by the boy's hamlet. Alsino tries to be a child, climbing trees with a girl, looking through his grandfather's trunk of mementos and trying to fly; he goes to town to sell a saddle, has his first drink and is taken to a brothel. But the war surrounds him. The US advisor takes Alsino on a chopper flight, but he's unimpressed. The soldiers' cruelties awake rebel sympathies in Alsino, and after an army assault backfires, the lad is fully baptized into the conflict.
The Uprising (1980)
The Uprising (1980)
This movie is about the liberation by the Sandinistas of the Anastasio Somoza regime in NIcaragua. The movie covers some of te key points in the fight for León, a city close to the capital Managua, and the first liberated territory. Many of the inhabitants of León who participated in the guerrilla and members of the sandinista army participated in the film.
Bella (2007)
Bella (2007)
Bella strolls on the beach of her youth, reflecting on life.
A Trip (2015)
A Trip (2015)
After meeting at a party, Luciana and Pedro... embark on a spur of the moment journey together that takes them to the forest. Asthey explore the beauty in the nature that surrounds them, they camp out under the stars, go on hikes, indulge in the passions of their encounter, and discuss their personal beliefs surrounding love, obligations, and attraction. Lensed in lush black-and-white cinematography amidst the gorgeous backdrop of the Costa Rican forest, an honest and genuine relationship story unfolds, lending a feeling of realism to their storybook romance in a refreshing and youthful way.
Pura Vida (2013)
Pura Vida (2013)
For several years, filmmaker Chris Shimojima had a recurring dream about a woman wearing a mask. The story was always the same, and he would always wake up before it ended. He became so obsessed with having an ending that he traveled to Costa Rica with two actors and filmed one. He has not had the dream since.
Clara Sola (2021)
Clara Sola (2021)
In a remote village in Costa Rica, Clara, a withdrawn 40-year-old woman, experiences a sexual and mystical awakening as she begins a journey to free herself from the repressive religious and social conventions which have dominated her life.
Domingo and the Mist (2022)
Domingo and the Mist (2022)
Domingo’s house in the Costa Rican mountains is about to be expropriated for the construction of a highway. But his land hides a secret: the ghost of his deceased wife visits him within the mist. Domingo is sure he will never give up his land, even if that means resorting to violence.
With Eyes Shut (2010)
With Eyes Shut (2010)
Gabo and Maga are an old couple who have lived together all their life and depend emotionally on each other completely. Delia, their grand-daughter, was brought up by them. The three of them live together harmoniously in a cosy atmosphere. At the age of 27, she already has a promising career in a big company. Everything is turned upside down with Maga’s sudden death just at the moment when Delia is assigned a very responsible task, the management of a major project which may launch her carer or bring it to an inglorious end. And what’s more to it, in the opening of the testament it turns out that Maga had expressed the wish that her ashes be dispersed in the Caribbean. Delia is facing a serious dilemma, as in her grand-father’s life there is nothing else now but the accomplishment of his companion’s last wish at a time when Delia can not abandon her professional commitment for a trip to the Caribbean.
I Have Electric Dreams (2023)
I Have Electric Dreams (2023)
Eva a 16-year-old girl lives with her mother, her younger sister and their cat, but wants to move in with her estranged father. Clinging onto him, she tries to balance between the tenderness and sensitivity of teenage life.
The Awakening of the Ants (2019)
The Awakening of the Ants (2019)
Isa has more than enough on her plate with two children and the household, which she manages on her own. When her husband persists with his wish for a third child, she realizes that something must change.
Lorena (2019)
Lorena (2019)
First short film by Sergio Saravia
Gestation (2009)
Gestation (2009)
A smart poor girl and a inmature rich boy get their life twisted when they accidently have a baby.
Aurora (2021)
Aurora (2021)
Thoughtfully, lovingly, Aurora tells the story of an unwanted pregnancy. Alongside her work as an architect, 40-year-old Luisa gives inspirational creative workshops to children. One day, she comes across 17-year-old Julia by the school toilets; it turns out she has unintentionally become pregnant. Luisa decides to help her – in the process manoeuvring herself into a difficult position somewhere between friend, teacher and mother figure. Or does she secretly enjoy playing this role?
Elena (2017)
Elena (2017)
Elena is a 17 year old teenager who has doubts about her sexuality. She lives with her grandmother who is a repressive and hard-to-please religious woman and in the midst of it all, her cousin Julia appears at her house, bringing new airs to her life and awakening Elena's need to discover herself.
The Return (2011)
The Return (2011)
After a decade abroad, Antonio returns to Costa Rica for a short visit. Unable to run away as usual, he is confronted with everything he has desperately struggled to put in the past: a broken family, an ailing father, a violent country and long lost friends.
Memories of a Burning Body (2024)
Memories of a Burning Body (2024)
Raised in a repressive era where sexuality was taboo, Ana, Patricia, and Mayela found their understanding of womanhood based on unspoken rules and implicit impositions. Now, their fearless voices incarnate in a single 65-year-old woman, who revisits a kaleidoscopic life of intertwined memories, secrets, and hidden desires.
Río Sucio (2020)
Río Sucio (2020)
Vítor is a hermit who desperately searches for a cow that has disappeared from his small farm. He suspects a neighbor with whom he has had problems. When Ricardo, his 12-year-old grandson arrives at the place, the ghosts of Vítor's childhood begin to appear, which confuses the past with the present. Vitor finally must face this terrible ghost when he was a child.
Lightning Falls Behind (2017)
Lightning Falls Behind (2017)
Hernandez had already made films in Guatemala and Mexico and this time found inspiring locations, unusual atmosphere and enthusiastic young people in Costa Rica. In this consciously unpolished film, the rebellious girls Sole and Ana open the trunk of a car in grandma’s garden and find something they’d rather immediately forget.
Red Princesses (2013)
Red Princesses (2013)
The Nicaraguan border in the eighties. Eleven-year-old Claudia and her younger sister experience the street fighting at first hand outside their car window. Their parents are Sandinista activists and, although the family is now escaping to neighbouring Costa Rica, the struggle continues. Their parents fire off terse commands and the girls are packed off to their relatives. The film focuses on the point of view of the two sisters, who are very close, as they learn more than they are able to cope with, but too little really to understand. A revolutionary struggle, seen through the eyes of children.
Caribe (2004)
Caribe (2004)
Vicente and Abigail run a banana plantation in Limon Province, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Abigail's half-sister Irene, about whom Abigail knew nothing, comes to introduce herself. Banana prices start falling, threatening the plantation's finances. An oil company works with the government to get off-shore drilling rights, over local objection. Vicente is at the center of each cross-current. Will he fall for Irene? Can he save the plantation? Will he sell out to corporate offers?
Violeta at Last (2017)
Violeta at Last (2017)
Recently divorced, 72-year-old Violeta lives alone in her childhood house, tending to her lush tropical garden and making plans to turn her property into a boarding house. When she discovers the bank is about to take away her house, she breaks all the rules to hold onto her home and her freedom.
August (2019)
August (2019)
Cuba, summer of 1994. In the midst of período especial, one of the greatest crises in the country’s history, thousands of Cuban rafters try to reach the United States illegally, never sure if they’ll make it out alive. With holidays starting, Carlos plunges into a carefree August, wandering around with his friends and falling in love for the first time. Little does he know about the country’s uncertain future, and in this hot summer, the world of Carlos will turn upside down.
Cold Water of the Sea (2010)
Cold Water of the Sea (2010)
On New Year's holidays, Mariana (21) and Rodrigo (30) drive to the coast where he has to sell a property. There, they find Karina (7), late at night and in the middle of nowhere. She tells then she ran away from home.
Days of Light (2019)
Days of Light (2019)
This beautifully integrated, multi-threaded narrative seamlessly interweaves six stories set in radically different locations across Central America, ranging from the tropical forests of Guatemala to the skyscrapers of Panama City. When a solar storm leaves the region without power, myriad dramas unfold over the course of five days during which all conveniences of modernity are stripped away. In Costa Rica, a pastor and his daughter worry for the future of their church, while in El Salvador, a grandmother and grandson make an arduous journey into the city. A husband and wife reconnect in Honduras, as a young couple nurses a mysterious stranger back to health in Guatemala. Meanwhile, in Nicaragua, a young woman prepares for her quinceañera and in Panama, a housekeeper grows exasperated with her demanding employer.
Touch from Above (0)
Touch from Above (0)
Based on true events, is the first christian movie filmed in Costa Rica. Katherine, a young girl was abused in childhood, her life was perturbate since that particular event, even today she remember that moment and afford a new reality. In the other side, Alfonso and Rosario have a dificult marriage. They meet for first time their son's girlfriend, but inmediately Alfonso starts a secret relationship with that girl. On the worst moment, Jesus Christ come on and save their life showing them a new hope, love and forgiveness.
Us (2019)
Us (2019)
Emilia and Ismael were not ready to take on parental responsibilities. However, their baby is there, and it must be assumed. Emil's mother Nazilati strives as best she can to empower her daughter. So will they be able to assume their new role?
A Scent of Paradise (1997)
A Scent of Paradise (1997)
Stockholm 1956. The Swedish botanist, candidate and lieutenant Nils von Ekelöw, presents his research to a panel of professors.
Corners and Other Things That Fade (2023)
Night Light (2022)
Night Light (2022)
Through landscapes fueled by silence, resentment and brief moments of joy, Ale, a seventeen-year-old woman, will try to protect her two younger siblings from the seething truth, their mother has left them and is not coming back.