The Message is a 2025 Spanish road drama written and directed by Iván Fund. The films stars Mara Bestelli, Marcelo Subiotto, Anika Bootz, and Betania Cappato. In the Argentinian countryside, a child’s special gift gives her opportunistic guardians the ideas of offering consultations with her as an animal medium to help earn a living. Along the way, they travel to visit the girl’s mother in a mental institution.

I knew little to nothing before watching it. Since I just got done watching a block of European films that premiered at Berlinale, I was surprised when I heard the Spanish language. I love how this festival is taking films from around the world and bringing them to their lineup. It genuinely makes me want to go in person as soon as I can. This one takes a humane, documentary, slow-burn approach that makes you stay with the characters longer. The pacing wasn’t quite for me at times, but it’s still one you should put on your radar.

I love how the common through line between all of the films I have seen so far with Berlinale have a powerful female character at the forefront. One of the most unbelievable things this film accomplishes is how it makes it look and feel like a documentary without being one. We are seeing everything up close with every little detail with this family. The lead actress, playing by Anika Bootz, is also named Anika in the film. If you told me this was a documentary, I would 100% believe you.

I am not sure how old the lead actress is, but the character she plays is meant to be 9 years old. Let’s say the actress is 9 years old then. Anika Bootz completely disappears in her role as we see so much emotion wash over her. She carries the film from start to finish that should set the stage for her future career. Her realistic performance wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of writer & director Iván Fund. From what I understand, this is a filmmaker who has a lot of experience in cinematography, and it shows. He values showing over telling. With the film being shown in black-and-white, it feels like the right approach for the film’s themes.

The film unravels quite a bit throughout about its characters, but when it utilizes its dialogue, that’s when it is quite effective. The dialogue also revealed so much about these characters and the setting that I wanted more of it. It built up a lot of intrigue that kept this world interesting. Just when you think you have everything figured out, you consistently learn more and more about this world that Fund has created.

With a 90-minute runtime, the pacing can be sort of hit-or-miss. It wasn’t quite for me, but I feel like my appreciation for it may go up over time. It’s a film that requires 100% of your attention. Personally, I really enjoyed the dialogue, so I was hoping for more of that. With a shorter runtime, I also think there was potential to cover more ground to fully flesh out its themes and the characters. Nonetheless, it’s still powerful in its messages.

Overall, I enjoyed taking the ride with The Message. It has an incredible cast with a standout performance from Anika Bootz. Writer & director Iván Fund proves to be effective in these roles as he carefully utilizes the show over tell approach. The pacing can be hit-or-miss at times, but it’s something that I can easily see myself enjoying over time.

VERDICT: 3.5/5 (Pretty Good)