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Rains Over Babel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rains Over Babel
Colombian promotional poster
SpanishLlueve sobre Babel
Directed byGala del Sol
Written byGala del Sol
Based onInferno by Dante Alighieri
Produced by
  • Felipe Aguilar Rodríguez
  • Celina Biurrun
  • Gala del Sol
  • Ana Cristina Gutierrez
  • Andres Felipe Hermida
  • Natalia Rendón
  • José Varón
Starring
  • Santiago Pineda
  • Celina Biurrun
  • Roman Escobar
  • Johan Zapata
  • Saray Rebolledo
CinematographySten Olson
Edited by
  • Gala del Sol
  • Hadley Hillel
Music byMartin De Lima
Production
companies
  • Gala del Sol Films
  • Fabrica Mundi
Release dates
  • 26 January 2025 (2025-01-26) (Sundance)
  • 16 April 2026 (2026-04-16) (Colombia)
Running time
113 minutes
Countries
  • Colombia
  • Spain
  • United States
LanguageSpanish

Rains Over Babel (Spanish: Llueve sobre Babel) is a 2025 black comedy fantasy film written, produced, co-edited and directed by Gala del Sol, and inspired by Dante's Inferno.[1] A co-production of Colombia, Spain and the United States, it centres on Babel, a nightclub in Cali, Colombia, which is a liminal purgatory between life and death.[2]

The film had its world premiere in the Next section of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on 26 January. It was theatrically released in Colombia on 16 April 2026. It was selected as the Colombian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards,[3] and the 2027 entry for the Goya Awards.[4].

Cast

[edit]

The film stars Saray Rebolledo as La Flaca, death personified, with whom patrons must bargain for their lives; Felipe Aguilar Rodriguez as Dante, La Flaca's assistant grim reaper; William Hurtado as Jacob, the son of an pastor facing the ultimate test as he prepares for his debut drag queen performance; Johan Zapata as Monet, a ghost desperate to return to his body before it decomposes; Jose Mojica as Timbí, who travels through the circles of hell accompanied by a gypsy named Uma, played by Celina Biurrun, who is determined to settle a bet with La Flaca to save her dying daughter's life.[5][6]

Santiago Pineda stars as El Boticaro, a bartender devil, and Sofia Buenaventura plays Erato, a mute guardian angel and Boticario's wife, and they both act as the omniscient narrators of the story.[1][7]

Supporting cast members include Jhon Bayron Quintero Valencia as Darla Experiment, another drag performer; Jhon Narvaez as Don Alfonso, Jacob's father; Roman Escobar as drag artist Roma, John Alex Castillo as Gian Salai, the club owner; and Jacobo Vélez as El Callegüeso, the singer of a mythical orchestra called La Mambanegra, booked to perform at the club.[1]

  • Saray Rebolledo as La Flaca
  • Santiago Pineda as El Boticaro
  • Felipe Aguilar Rodriguez as Dante, La Flaca's assistant
  • William Hurtado as Jacob
  • Celina Biurrun as Uma
  • Roman Escobar as Roma
  • Johan Zapata as Monet
  • Jose Mojica as Timbí
  • Jhon Narvaez as Don Alfonso
  • Sofia Buenaventura as Erato

Release

[edit]

The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on 26 January 2025.[8] Subsequently It made to the 'Bright Future' strand of the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam for its International premiere on 4 February 2025.[9][10]

HBO Max purchased it for eastern Europe,[11] and the platform FILMIN for Spain[12].

The film had its Colombian premiere 16 April 2026, and managed to run for 9 weeks in the commercial theater chain Cinecolombia, becoming the most watched Colombian film of 2026.[13] [14]

Reception

[edit]

Critical response

[edit]

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[15]

In June 2025, The Hollywood Reporter included Rains Over Babel as one of the "top 10 Hispanic Films of 2025". [16] [17] In July 2025, Del Sol was named by Variety as one of the "10 Colombian filmmakers to watch".[18]

Accolades

[edit]

The film won the Panorama España Grand Jury Award at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival in April 2025.[19] It went on to win the Jury Award for Best First Feature at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival in Canada, May 2025.[20]

On June 29, 2025, it won Best International Feature at the Pride Awards held at the Lincoln Center in New York City. The award was handed by TV personality and queer icon, Dominique Jackson.[21]

Rains Over Babel was selected by the Colombian Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences as their 2027 entry for the Goya Awards[4] as well as their entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards[3]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 Michael Talbot-Haynes, "Rains Over Babel". Film Threat, March 25, 2025.
  2. ↑ Manuel Betancourt, "‘Rains Over Babel’ Review: This Tropical, Queer Riff on Dante’s Inferno Is a Dazzling, Daring Provocation". Variety, January 26, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Gutierrez, Carlos (August 21, 2026). "Oscars: Colombia Selects Gala del Sol's Rains Over Babel as Its Official Submission". Cinema Tropical. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Suárez, Jesús Lugo (August 13, 2026). "'Llueve sobre Babel' es la película seleccionada para representar a Colombia en los Premios Goya". ELHERALDO.CO (in Spanish). Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  5. ↑ Isotta, Natalia (January 2025). "RAINS OVER BABEL". MPM Premium.
  6. ↑ Fanelli, Brian (February 3, 2025). "RAINS OVER BABEL – SUNDANCE 2025". Horror Buzz.
  7. ↑ Álvarez López, Cristina (January 29, 2025). "Rains over Babel". International Film Festival Rotterdam.
  8. ↑ Mel Valentin, "Sundance 2025 Review: Rains Over Babel, Singularly Enthralling Retro-Futuristic Queer Fantasy". Screen Anarchy, February 14, 2025.
  9. ↑ Dams, Tim (November 22, 2024). "Rotterdam adds 11 films to Harbour, Limelight and Bright Future strands". ScreenDaily.
  10. ↑ "Rains Over Babel". International Film Festival Rotterdam. February 4, 2025. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  11. ↑ Watch Rains Over Babel | HBO Max. 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2026 – via www.hbomax.com.
  12. ↑ Llueve sobre Babel (in Spanish). 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2026 – via www.filmin.es.
  13. ↑ Monroy, Édison (May 4, 2026). "Llueve sobre Babel se convierte en la película colombiana más vista en lo que va de 2026". PRODU (in Spanish). Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  14. ↑ País, El (May 6, 2026). "'Llueve sobre Babel' lidera la taquilla del cine colombiano". Noticias de Cali, Valle y Colombia - Periodico: Diario El País (in Spanish). Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Rains Over Babel (2025)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  16. ↑ Velandia, Laura (July 19, 2025). "Llueve sobre Babel, película caleña dentro del TOP 10 películas hispanas del 2025, según The Hollywood Reporter". Noticiero 90 Minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  17. ↑ DIDYME-DÔME, ANDRÉ (June 20, 2025). "Las 10 mejores películas en español de 2025 (hasta la fecha)". Hollywood Reporter (in Spanish). Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  18. ↑ Fuente, Anna Marie de la (July 15, 2025). "10 Colombian Directors to Watch". Variety. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  19. ↑ "La festiva y desmelenada 'Llueve sobre Babel', de Gala del Sol, premio «Panorama España» | Festival Internacional de Cine" (in European Spanish). April 30, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  20. ↑ Tatantgelo, Stephanie (June 10, 2025). "2025 Inside Out Award Winners". Inside Out. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  21. ↑ Presswire, Ein (June 30, 2025). "The 2025 PRIDE AWARDS Honors LGBTQIA Trailblazers with Powerful Celebration at Lincoln Center". Count On News 2.
[edit]
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