A Poet

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A Poet

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2h 3m

Drama

Comedy

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100%

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35 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Middle-aged and erratic, Oscar is a failed writer who has given up on life. Unemployed and living with family, he wanders the streets of Medellín in a drunken stupor, lamenting the state of literature in his home country, where he has succumbed to the cliché of the tortured artist. However, the opportunity to mentor a young student offers a chance at redemption, if he doesn't screw it up first. In a performance marked by darkly comic pathos, first-time actor Ubeimar Rios stars in Simón Mesa Soto's Un Certain Regard Jury Prize-winner A Poet, a raw and riotous farce about how good deeds are often met with the universe's idea of cruel and unusually poetic punishment.

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Critics Consensus

Anchored by writer-director Simón Mesa Soto's wry detail and Ubeimar Rios' brilliantly uneasy performance, A Poet uses the tortured artist archetype to craft a story that's as darkly funny as it is unexpectedly affecting.

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Christy Lemire

FilmWeek (LAist)

1d

The tone is really deft. There's an understated humor to it, because the central figure is really pathetic, but you come to really feel for him, too.

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

6d

That you’re never entirely sure if Oscar is going to be the adult or the child in any given scene creates a wonderfully funny tension. It’s one of the best performances of this past year and if Rios never acted again, it’d be a one-off for the ages...

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Robert Daniels

RogerEbert.com

6d

3.5/4

It’s very easy to dismiss a film about a hapless loser. But it’s nearly as difficult to ignore a performance like the one Rios gives.

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Michael Nordine

Movie Brief

2d

"Do you also live in profound sadness?"

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Padaí Ó Maolchalann

In Review Online

2d

If A Poet offers, overall, a somewhat familiar perspective on the tortured artist trope, the honesty and accuracy of the details in Mesa Soto’s script enliven it. Surprise may be largely absent, but nuance is not.

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Charles Johnston

Spectrum Culture

3d

A modern neorealist film that, like a poem, finds beauty in the most unlikely of places.

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David C

@ElDeiby 2d

Must watch, excellent movie

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virginia s

@Ginny72 2d

Oscar is a character you won’t soon forget. Many "dark comedies" don’t deliver comedy, but this one sure does.

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Simón Mesa Soto

Director

Ubeimar Rios

Oscar

Rebeca Andrade

Yurlady

Guillermo Cardona

Efraín

Alisson Correa

Daniela

Margarita Soto

Teresita

A Poet: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Middle-aged and erratic, Oscar is a failed writer who has given up on life. Unemployed and living with family, he wanders the streets of Medellín in a drunken stupor, lamenting the state of literature in his home country, where he has succumbed to the cliché of the tortured artist. However, the opportunity to mentor a young student offers a chance at redemption, if he doesn't screw it up first. In a performance marked by darkly comic pathos, first-time actor Ubeimar Rios stars in Simón Mesa Soto's Un Certain Regard Jury Prize-winner A Poet, a raw and riotous farce about how good deeds are often met with the universe's idea of cruel and unusually poetic punishment.

Director: Simón Mesa Soto
Producer: Simón Mesa Soto, Juan Sarmiento G., Manuel Ruiz Montealegre
Screenwriter: Simón Mesa Soto
Distributor: 1-2 Special
Production Co: Ocúltimo, Medio de Contención Producciones
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 30, 2026, Limited
Runtime: 2h 3m

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