Spoilers will ask the fish.

There’s something purely magical about the full sky watched from the open plain. That is the first thing that will take your breath away in this film. The second is both the cute, strange and strangely symbolic quest that our 10-year old main character is about to embark upon. A word of caution, though. Not all of us will make it to the end alive. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Cielo (2025) is written and directed by Alberto Sciamma. Young Santa (Fernanda Gutiérrez Aranda) has lived all her life in the highlands of Bolivia. She seems to have a special link with the world, and her beliefs would seem just childish fantasies except that she seems capable of performing miracles. Unfortunately not everyone she runs into has the fortune to live a long life. This attracts the attention of local chief of police Gustavo (Fernando Arze Echajar). Fortunately Santa finds an ally in a traveling band of luchadoras (wrestlers) led by La Reina (Mariela Salaverry).

Magical realism is personified in this rare tale that includes both innocence and cruelty. There’s something both sacred and outwordly about Santa. This is blatantly obvious when she meets a jaded priest Father Jaime (Luis Bredow) whose sermons Santa has listened on her tape player since she was a baby. With her faith composed of mysticism and religion, Santa carries on with a fish in a bucket and a barrel that contains- actually, I will leave it for you to find out for yourself.

Highly recommended if you can put all reasoning and logic aside and watch with your heart. That being said, as much as this little girl has the habit of turning antagonists into allies, know that befriending her does not mean you’re safe from a potential fatal incident. Definitely not for casual audiences. It unabashedly leaves behind more questions and more fatalities that I expected. Worth a watch for the right audience.

That will do for now.