movies
‘Ashes’ Review: Diego Luna’s Disjointed Mexican Immigrant Drama
Diego Luna got his feet wet as a director with the promising 2011 debut, Abel, a slight but disarming tragicomedy that took imaginative shots at Mexican patriarchy and manhood. He followed in 2014 with the larger-scale Cesar Chavez, a pedestrian bio-drama that forfeited any shelf life it might have had when evidence accusing the iconic labor unionist of sexual abuse, grooming and rape surfaced earlier this year, all but obliterating his legacy. Next came 2016’s Mr. Pig, a hog farmer road-trip movie with Danny Glover and Maya Rudolph which I flatly refuse to believe exists.
Sadly, Luna’s inert fourth feature behind the camera, Ashes (Ceniza en la Boca), is unlikely to course-correct that faltering trajectory. Based on a well-regarded novel by Brenda Navarro, it’s a wafty character study so stripped down and elliptical that it lacks the connective tissue to hook us into its story or provide emotional access to its characters. The movie seems to want to function as a mood piece — perhaps something closer to Bing Liu’s haunting narrative debut Preparation for the Next Life from last year — but there’s so little vitality on the screen you start to wonder, “Isn’t being an accomplished actor enough?”
Ashes
The Bottom Line
Pared back to the point of narrative starvation.
Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Special Screenings)
Cast: Anna Díaz, Adriana Paz, Luisa Huertas, Guillermo Ríos, Adriana Jacome, Sergio Bautista, Benny Emmanuel, Irene Escolar, Anna Alárcon, Dailyn Valdivieso, Charlie Rowe, Laura Gómez
Director: Diego Luna
Screenwriters: Abia Castillo, Diego Rabasa, Diego Luna, based on the novel Ceniza en la boca, by Brenda Navarro
1 hour 39 minutes
Punctuated by clunky whiteouts to signify a change of location, the film’s time frame is often blurry and its setting unclear. Many audiences will spend a third of the run time trying to figure out the characters’ relationships.
The movie opens with Lucila (Anna Díaz, the sole reason to keep watching) being woken by her mother Isabel (Adriana Paz, from Emilia Perez), who instructs her to take care of her little brother before disappearing to Spain. Sometime later, Lucila follows Isabel from Mexico City to Madrid, with her brother Diego (Sergio Bautista) in tow.
Forced to support the family, Lucila finds work as a nanny, looking after the infant son of a rude, bossy architect (Irene Escolar), while also assuming responsibility for her own increasingly difficult brother Diego (Sergio Bautista), who risks explusion from school if he keeps hitting classmates.
Impulsively, Lucila follows her friend Jimena (Laura Gómez) to Barcelona in pursuit of independence. She gets herself an English musician boyfriend (Charlie Rowe), while hiding the fact that she does elder-care work and food deliveries from him. Feeling left behind by their neglectful mother and abandoned by his big sister, Diego turns up in Barcelona, but after a disagreement, he tells Lucila that despite all her criticisms of Isabel, she has become just like her.
Things deteriorate for Lucila when she’s unable to pay rent and is kicked out of her shared apartment, but her world completely crumbles when she gets a call informing her of a tragic death in the family. Ignoring her stricken mother’s advice, Lucila decides to go back to Mexico City to mourn with her grandparents (Luisa Huertas and Guillermo Ríos) and other relatives, sneaking the deceased loved one’s ashes into her backpack.
These are some of the film’s most touching scenes, when Lucila perhaps feels more like she’s part of a family than she has in years. Despite a mentality forged by military service, her abuelo is kind and affectionate, while her straight-shooting abuela gives her the explanation she’s long been denied for her mother’s abandonment, without sugar-coating it.
This concluding stretch also explains — more literally than emotionally — the original title of Navarro’s novel, Ash in the Mouth. But the impression throughout is of a complex work of fiction distilled down to broad-strokes plot machinations, to the exclusion of meaningful character insight. It’s a movie that manages to be both intimate and uninvolving, though that’s no fault of the very capable actors. Perhaps it was chopped up in the edit in a bid to push the story forward, while inadertently gutting it.
The screenplay barely touches on some of what would appear to have been important themes, or at least vivid background texture, in the book. The stigmatization of Mexican immigrants, treated by the Spanish as cultural and class inferiors, is limited to the curt disdain of one nightmare employer, or to Lucila on the street in Barcelona contemplating a flyer for an accelerated Catalan language course.
The crime and socioeconomic factors driving Mexicans to seek opportunities abroad are articulated only in a chaotic nighttime scene in which a gang declaring itself in graffiti to be “The New School” terrorizes the peaceful neighborhood where Lucila’s grandparents live. We are left to assume this is a drug cartel making its menacing presence felt.
In the end, the most effective moments are those in which we observe Lucila showing genuine affection for the people in her care — rolling on a bed laughing with a happy baby or tenderly bathing a Spanish family’s neglected grandmother. But the movie lacks fluidity; its fussily fragmented approach ultimately just leaves us with pieces that don’t add up to much.
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SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Tuesday night’s episode of Dancing with the Stars.
It’s another exciting night in the ballroom as 13 contestants are still eyeing the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy during Week 3 of Dancing with the Stars.
Last week, the judges reinforced just how tough they are going to be this season, once again declining to score anyone above a 7. Still, three couples — Jenna and Val, Ezra and Daniella, and Amber and Pasha — walked away tied for the top of the leaderboard with 21 points. We also said goodbye to Alan Bersten and chef Giada De Laurentiis.
Week 3 is Yacht Rock night, so the remaining couples are performing to hits from artists including Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, and Luther Vandross.
Here is how the night went.
Olympian Amber Glenn with Pasha Pashkov danced a Foxtrot to “Hold the Line” by Toto. SCORE: 24
Actress Julia Stiles with Ezra Sosa danced a salsa to “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” by Daryl Hall & John Oates. SCORE: 19
Late-night sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez with Whitney Carson danced a Foxtrot to “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes. SCORE: 15
Actress Tatyana Ali with Jan Ravnik performed a Quickstep to “Maneater” by Daryl Hall & John Oates. SCORE: 21
Actor Harry Shum Jr. with Jenna Johnson performed a jive to “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Daryl Hall & John Oates. SCORE: 24
Musician Taylor Hanson with Britt Stewart danced a Foxtrot to “What a Fool Believes” by The Doobie Brothers. SCORE: 18
Reality star Maura Higgins with Mark Ballas danced a Quickstep to “Turn Your Love Around” by George Benson. SCORE: 22
Reality star Ciara Miller with Brandon Armstrong performed a Cha Cha to “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross. SCORE: 18
Savannah Bananas midfielder Jackson Olson with Emma Slater performed a paso doble to “Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins. SCORE: 18
Comedian and podcaster Connor Wood with Rylee Arnold danced a Foxtrot to “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac. SCORE: 20
Actress Jenna Dewan with Val Chmerkovskiy danced a samba to “Africa” by Toto. SCORE: 21
Reality star Tyler Cameron with Sharna Burgess danced a jive to “Still the One” by Orleans. SCORE: 17
Paralympian Ezra Frech with Daniella Karagach danced a Foxtrot to “Just the Two of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. featuring Bill Withers. SCORE: 21
Who goes home?
The competition is now down to 12 as Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart were sent home. Next week is all about Mariah Carey, so the couples will perform a variety of the pop superstar’s biggest hits.
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Another hockey book adaptation has entered the chat.
Netflix is currently building out its cast for the series adaptation of Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker book that kicks off the Maple Hill series. This in addition to their show The Sticks that is also currently in the works.
For everything we know about Netflix’s Icebreaker book adaptation so far, read on.
When will Netflix’s Icebreaker series adaptation come out?
A release date has not yet been set. The show has begun to assemble its cast.
Who will lead the Icebreaker show at Netflix?
Daisy Jelley (Poser, How To Have Sex) will portray Anastasia “Stassie” Allen, and Connor Simos (Subversion) will portray Nate Hawkins in the college hockey drama series.
Who else is in the cast of Netflix’s Icebreaker adaptation?
Gabriel Tierney (Rivals, Enola Holmes 2), Auliʻi Cravalho (Moana), newcomer and professional athlete Peter Berry, Chaneil Kular (Best of the Best, Sex Education), Devin Craig (Sex Lives of College Girls, Maize) and Aidan Shaw (We Were Liars, Heated Rivalry, Finding Her Edge) have joined the ensemble cast.
Tierney will play Aaron; Cravalho will portray Lola; Berry is Robbie; Kular will play JJ; Craig will portray Henry and Shaw is Russ.
What is Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker book about?
Stassie is a transfer athlete gunning for Olympic gold. Nate is the campus star chasing the NHL. When an accident forces their teams to share one rink, Anastasia Allen and Nate Hawkins collide—and discipline gives way to obsession, because the only thing more dangerous than wanting to win is wanting each other.
Who else is behind Netflix’s Icebreaker series?
Jade Halley Bartlett (Road House, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Miller’s Girl) created and executive produced the series. Amanda Lasher (Gossip Girl, The Bold Type, Togetherness) serves as showrunner, writer and excutive producer. Grace also executive produces along with Alex Cooper, Matt Kaplan and Mina Lefevre for Cooper’s Unwell Productions.
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One of the biggest executive questions about Paramount following its pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — who will lead streaming — may have been answered.
Cindy Holland is leaving Paramount where she was Chairman of Direct-To-Consumer since the Skydance-Paramount merger having served as an advisor to Skydance CEO David Ellison prior to that. She announced her departure in a company memo, which you can read below.
The move leaves HBO’s Casey Bloys as the likely streaming head of the combined Paramount-WBD.
“Cindy is one of the most exceptional executives in our industry — a force of nature whose impact on Paramount over the past year has been significant,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said. “Under her leadership, P+ reached new heights, Pluto TV underwent its most significant transformation in a decade, and we strengthened our content and sports portfolio – all while the business exceeded the ambitious goals we set. Just as importantly, she built an exceptional team and a strong foundation for the future. Cindy has been a trusted partner to me and so many others, and I couldn’t be more grateful for her leadership, her relentless drive and everything she’s done for our company.”
Here is Holland’s memo:
When I joined David’s team in January 2025, we proceeded to set three goals: i) advise on the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, ii) integrate and transform Paramount+ & revive Pluto TV, and iii) build an unparalleled team in this industry. In just over 12 months, I’m proud to say we accomplished all three and it’s been a joy to work closely with all of you.
Together with the Product team, we drove significant strategic and organizational change across DTC — building a new foundation for growth on both services, while investing in greater depth and breadth of programming and delivering strong revenue, profit, and subscriber growth for the division.
As David readies for the next phase of his vision, we’ve discussed my role and the future of the combined businesses. David is optimizing for HBO stability as we move into this next chapter, and I fully support that. I know this team has the leadership and expertise to manage through the transition and the next phase of the company, and to this end today will mark my last day here.
As I reflect on my time here and all that we’ve built together in this short time, what stands out most to me is this team. I have never been more proud of a group of people. What we’ve accomplished together is remarkable — landing quarter after quarter while navigating extraordinary uncertainty and change with resilience, focus and ambition. We grew Paramount+ to an all-time subscriber high, delivered the best retention in the service’s history, and drove double-digit growth in both engagement and revenue. We built an extraordinary content pipeline, greenlighting more than 40 new and returning series and setting all-time records with Landman, the most-watched series in Paramount+ history, and Dutton Ranch, the service’s biggest original series debut ever. We transformed live sports into a powerful streaming growth engine, securing landmark agreements with UFC and Zuffa Boxing and expanding our WNBA and UEFA Champions League rights – with UFC Freedom 250 becoming the largest-ever audience for an exclusive live event on Paramount+ and UFC 329 setting a new platform record for peak concurrent streams for an exclusive live event. And we undertook Pluto TV’s biggest product transformation in a decade, dramatically increasing registered viewing and VOD consumption while delivering strong financial performance across the business. These are extraordinary accomplishments – but what makes me proudest is how we achieved them: together, with an unwavering commitment to our audiences, our creative partners and one another.
I joined Paramount because I believe in these businesses, and because I believe wholeheartedly that the combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery serves the best interests of artists and audiences worldwide. I’m looking forward to seeing what you all accomplish together in this next, momentous chapter.
Cindy
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