Esta Isla (This Island)

Siblings Charlie and Bebo maintain a humble but freewheeling lifestyle living in a public housing complex in their coastal Puerto Rican town. They drink and party together — often on the beach, at night, with friends — and by day, they try to make ends meet as fishermen with the occasional side hustle. Against this backdrop, teenage Bebo meets and falls in love with Lola, a young woman from a privileged family. But when Charlie becomes embroiled in shady dealings running up against the business of a local drug dealer, the young lovers flee and seek shelter deep in the island’s untamed and isolated mountains… biding their time to evade peril.

With grounded performances and striking cinematography, Lorraine Jones and Cristian Carretero’s confident first feature is a potent exploration of wayward youth seeking a better future for themselves amidst their precarious present.—Jose Rodriguez