Don't You Let Me Go

Adela stands among the crowd at Elena's wake, feeling disconnected from the hushed voices and harsh fluorescent lights that don't remind her of her best friend's intrinsic joy. Emotionally drained, Adela goes to her car and what does she find waiting for her but a bus. Not an ordinary bus, a magic bus – a bus that takes her back in time to a magical weekend where a lively and funny Elena awaits her in a beach house, ready to binge detective novels and ride bicycles and dance the night away. Like nothing ever changed.

Writer-directors Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge’s third film is a beautiful tribute to friendship, especially the bonds of friendship between women. With fantastic, emotionally grounded performances, Don’t You Let Me Go dwells in how the smallest of details end up being the most meaningful of ties. It’s a film centered around a simple yet profound observation: we feel grief because the people we love bring us joy.––Jason Gutierrez