march around the world 2026 | 15/30 | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica

"If I were a snake, I would change colour, gold, silver, purple, pink, blue, and I would leave stars behind me wherever I go."

In Land of Ashes, 13-year-old Selva (Smachleen Gutiérrez) explores her relationship with death, grief, and loneliness as she takes care of her aging grandfather (Humberto Samuels) in the wake of her mother's passing. There's a slow poetry to this film that was neat to see, but unfortunately it didn't really grab me. I would have liked to see it lean further into the light magical realism elements that were there. I did enjoy Smachleen Gutiérrez's quiet performance as Selva, though.