Diego Luna's 'Ceniza en la boca' opens in Spanish cinemas, a story of a migrant family split by a mother's departure

A mother's departure and a daughter's burden

Ceniza en la boca opens in Mexico with Isabel, played by Adriana Paz, saying goodbye to her children in a dark room and asking her daughter to look after her brother. Eight years later, Lucila travels to Spain with her younger brother Diego, played by Sergio Bautista, to reunite with the mother who left. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Mexican writer Brenda Navarro, published in 2022 according to El Periódico. Anna Díaz plays Lucila, whom El Mundo describes as a 21-year-old who has long been an improvised mother to her brother while their mother builds a life in Madrid.

Madrid, Barcelona and the cost of getting by

In Madrid, Lucila takes a job caring for the young son of an architect, played by Irene Escolar, while her brother becomes harder to manage and is close to being expelled from school. Her friend Jimena, played by Laura Gómez, pushes her to move to Barcelona in search of independence. There Lucila starts a relationship with an English musician, played by Charlie Rowe, and hides that she earns her living caring for elderly people and delivering food. EL PAÍS writes that her precarious adaptation to Spain, with its moments of light and joy, is the axis of the plot, especially in its first half. The reviews place the brother's death differently: La Razón describes it after the siblings reach Spain and the family's return to Mexico for the funeral, while El Periódico describes the image of his fall from a fifth-floor window as the film's opening.

Luna's direction and the critics

Diego Luna directs with cinematographer Damián García, mixing a street-level realism with fixed shots of interiors filmed through doors and windows, which EL PAÍS says show the isolation of the siblings. La Razón and El Mundo each gave the film three stars, while ABC Tu Diario gave it two. El Periódico called it an excellent adaptation of Navarro's novel and praised Anna Díaz's performance. Luna explained that the film's subject is more pertinent than ever.

It has never been more relevant to talk about migration. I am very excited to be able to tell this story. I am very fortunate to work with this team, diverse and enriching voices who are here for the right reasons.

Festivals and the Spanish release

The film was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival and then in the Horizontes Latinos section of the San Sebastián festival. It later received the Premio Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country. La Razón lists the running time as 97 minutes and the production year as 2026. ABC Tu Diario reports that the film opens in cinemas this Friday, after its runs in Cannes and San Sebastián.

Luna on his mother and the film's perspective

In an interview with ABC Tu Diario, Luna linked the story to his own life. His mother, Fiona Alexander, was a British artist who emigrated to Mexico in 1972 and worked as a set and costume designer, and she died in a road accident in 1982 while working with Carlos Saura on Antonieta. Luna was two years old at the time. He said the story of a move is where he connected with the film, and explained the perspective of the film's central character.

The narrative of the daughter confronts that of the mother, which is a narrative of sacrifice.