I went to the 2025 Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) expecting I’d see the best of Mexican cinema, maybe meet a few creative people, and enjoy the atmosphere. But La Reserva by Pablo Pérez Lombardini made an unforgettable impression with its honesty and authenticity.
It’s an enjoyable story, with good vs. evil as the backdrop. But unlike the always pleasing superhero sequels Hollywood churns out fifty times per year, La Reserva makes your brain work and question your beliefs, leaving you with empathy for people you might not think about if it weren’t for this glimpse into their reality.
The judges agreed and it won Best Mexican Feature Film, Best Director, and Best Actress at the festival, and for good reason. Watching it, I felt something rare: a mix of truth, sadness, and courage that only the most authentic films awaken.
A Fiction That Feels Real
From the first frame, La Reserva pulled me in. It’s filmed in black and white, but it felt more colorful than most movies. The story follows Julia, from a rural coffee picking community in Chiapas, who works as a forest ranger and finds herself caught between protecting her land and surviving the violence that surrounds it.
One day she discovers illegal logging in a protected area and searches for a way to stop it. The government she works for makes no response, so she rallies her reluctant community to take action, then meets the consequences of hindering those behind the logging.
It’s a movie about heroes and villains, but it makes you question whether “doing the right thing” is always the best choice. I realized that I face versions of that same dilemma every day, like when I choose between buying plastic for convenience or making the harder choice to avoid it, hoping it will matter in a world drowning in pollution.
An Authentic Setting & Actors
La Reserva was filmed in the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve with a cast entirely from the area. These choices keep intact the suspension of disbelief better than most films, creating a more documentary feeling than fiction.
Carolina Guzmán, who plays Julia, was not a professional actor before this film. You would never know this from the talent displayed in La Reserva. In fact, Guzmán took home the Ojo for Best Actress.
A supporting actor, Abel Ángel Pérez, attended the screening and spoke about his work raising orchids and protecting the endangered species of that flower living in El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve. These people live the themes brought up in the story and show us a reality we wouldn’t understand without their authenticity.
The Gringo Perspective
I’ve lived in Mexico for five years and am constantly reminded of the xenophobia that I was raised in up north. It’s not like we start our days saying “we hate Mexicans,” but we subconsciously look down on our neighbors to the south.
This xenophobia might be related to propaganda from the Mexican-American War, which ended in 1848 with the USA shifting the border south by force. One way to break these old habits of division and hate is to see films like La Reserva.
Through the story we can empathise with the characters and learn that they are humans with desires and struggles like us. Watching La Reserva is almost as good as having a deep conversation with a Mexican person, and might encourage you to look at your fellow human beings in a new way.
The Road to Becoming The Best Mexican Feature Film of 2025
Pablo Pérez Lombardini spoke about the process of bringing his first feature film to life, nearly six years of writing, convincing people of its merits, casting, directing, and the endless finishing touches. Seeing it win best film and director in its home country felt like a collective victory for everyone who believes that hard work and a great idea can pay off.
Inspired by a childhood trip to Chiapas, Lombardini returned decades later to the lush jungles that had once filled him with awe. That return to the wilderness became La Reserva, a work of realism and lyricism portraying the balance between nature, humanity, and survival in modern Mexico.
I was disappointed when Pablo returned from presenting his film in Qatar without it being selected to move on to Cannes, because I thought for sure it was going to win the Palm d’Or after seeing a first cut. But, I feel even happier that he won in Morelia because the people in France, and Qatar and the rest of the world might not know this, but México es chingón!
A Gem Of A Movie
La Reserva is a reminder that truth, even when painful, is beautiful. Lombardini and his team give us a view of some of the planet’s forgotten people who struggle to leave the world a little better than they found it.
I really hope you have a chance to watch it soon!
