𓆣 ⋮ 𓁹 suzmor 𖦹 ⋮ 𓆏’s review published on Letterboxd:
i dream in another language is a quiet reckoning, a film that doesn’t just mourn a dying language but unravels the slow death of connection itself. ernesto contreras holds up a fragile world where words don’t just vanish; they suffocate under the weight of silence, pride, and old wounds.
the last speakers of zikril, isauro and evaristo, haven’t exchanged a word in fifty years. their silence isn’t just about a feud; it’s a fracture carved by love, jealousy, and regret — the kind of hurt that burrows deep, festers, and turns even the closest bonds into something brittle and broken. it’s brutal, raw, and heartbreakingly human.
martín, the young linguist, arrives with a hopeful, almost naive mission: to save a language before it slips into oblivion. but the real challenge isn’t recording words, it’s breaking through the wall of pain and history between these two men. language here is more than grammar; it’s identity, memory, and a pulse that’s barely holding on.
the film’s flashbacks hit with the weight of lost youth — two boys wild and free, full of light and possibility, before life and pride chipped them down to silence. watching their friendship crack feels like watching something beautiful burn slowly, unbearably.
i dream in another language isn’t just about language dying, it’s about what we lose when we stop trying to reach each other. in a world that’s always shouting but rarely listening, it asks: what happens when the spaces between us grow too wide to cross?
this movie sticks in your chest — a soft bruise, a quiet ache. it reminds us that sometimes the hardest thing isn’t holding on to words, but finding the courage to speak from the broken parts inside. and maybe, just maybe, that’s where true healing begins.
ps. watching i dream in another language felt like staring into a quiet void where words slowly die, not just a language, but everything that language holds: memory, love, pain. it’s brutal how silence can be louder than any argument, how decades of not speaking can erode the soul. the film sticks with me because it’s not just about saving words, it’s about facing the ghosts we’d rather keep silent, even if that silence kills us.
