The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo

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The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo

2025

1h 44m

Drama

LGBTQ+

Romance

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Popcornmeter

95%

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42 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

In the early 80's, in the Chilean desert, eleven-year-old Lidia grows up in a loving queer family pushed on the edge of an unwelcoming dusty mining town. They are blamed for a mysterious illness that's starting to spread -- said to be passed through a single gaze, when one man falls in love with another. In this modern western, Lidia leads a quest for vengeance, facing violence, fear and hatred, where family is her only refuge and love might be the real danger.

Critics Consensus

The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo uses rich magical realism and vividly realized characters to poetically explore queer resistance, found family, and the power of empathy over fear.

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Chase Hutchinson

Seattle Times

Feb 5

3/4

"The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo," the fascinating feature debut from writer-director Diego Céspedes, is a film of painfully bittersweet, enduringly beautiful joys.

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Jordan Mintzer

The Hollywood Reporter

Feb 2

Shot in a pared-down but colorful style by Angello Faccini, Flamingo makes the most out of its limited budget and picturesque locations, which include an arid mountain range straight out of a spaghetti Western.

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Payton McCarty-Simas

Autostraddle

Dec 17

There are no purely happy endings here — the story hinges on mass queer tragedy, after all — but this melding of trans self-fabulation makes for a surprisingly optimistic watch.

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Jaylan Salah

Geek Vibes Nation

Feb 19

6.5/10

This feature is tense, gripping, poetic, and flamboyant, like the dark passenger to Pedro Almodóvar’s queerverse. It’s not one we are used to watching, now with more positive, thankfully, queer narratives dominating the movie scene.

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Filipe Freitas

Always Good Movies

Jan 27

2.5/5

An anemic blend of turbulent coming-of-age drama, social critique, and revenge tale.

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Aarón Rodríguez Serrano

El antepenúltimo mohicano

Jan 22

3/5

The formal part is, by far, the most powerful of the proposal: there we have the photography of Angello Faccini, with its exuberant blue skies and its fascinating ability to treat the material nature of the landscape. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Joseph DEE CORLEONE

Dec 14

Diego Cespedes' debut is passionate, funny, gentle and a bit transgressive. Very well done beautiful cinematography with Wonderful Characters.

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Laura S

@RT22254809 2d

This is a beautiful film, I fell in love with all the characters, unique, brilliant

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Christian M

@chriss17eu Feb 24

It has its moments. Diego Céspedes’ feature debut is a strange, uneven experience—sometimes fascinating, sometimes hard to follow. The 4:3 cinematography is gorgeous, with compositions, colors, and lighting that turn simple scenes into contemplative paintings. Music is subtle, reinforcing the film’s sensory, atmospheric focus. The narrative feels abstract, leaving questions about its central ideas unresolved, though reflection afterward helps. The treatment of queer characters is compelling: discrimination and fear are shown subtly, emphasizing societal prejudice. Tamara Cortés shows real potential; the rest of the cast supports the story without standing out. The last half hour drags, and I disengage. Overall, it’s visually and thematically interesting, but the uneven flow prevents full immersion or lasting impact.

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Diego Céspedes

Director

Tamara Cortés

Actor

Matías Catalán

Actor

Paula Dinamarca

Actor

Claudia Cabezas

Actor

Luis Dubó

Actor

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Synopsis

In the early 80's, in the Chilean desert, eleven-year-old Lidia grows up in a loving queer family pushed on the edge of an unwelcoming dusty mining town. They are blamed for a mysterious illness that's starting to spread -- said to be passed through a single gaze, when one man falls in love with another. In this modern western, Lidia leads a quest for vengeance, facing violence, fear and hatred, where family is her only refuge and love might be the real danger.

Director: Diego Céspedes
Producer: Giancarlo Nasi, Justin Pechberty
Screenwriter: Diego Céspedes
Distributor: Altered Innocence
Production Co: Don Quijote Films, Les Valseurs, Weydemann Bros. Film, Irusoin, Wrong Men
Genre: Drama, LGBTQ+, Romance
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 12, 2025, Limited
Runtime: 1h 44m

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