The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo
Altered Innocence | Release Date: December 12, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Irish TimesTara BradyMay 15, 2026
At the heart of the film is 11-year-old Lidia, raised within this fiercely loving queer household. Through her eyes, Céspedes captures the tenderness and volatility of a family under siege. Read full review
80
The GuardianCath ClarkeMay 11, 2026
What gives the film its distinct flavour is a slightly feverish tone and dream-like logic. In places, it’s hard to see what the magic realism adds, and the script’s ideas about gender and gaze feel underexplored. Perhaps in the end, this sense of unreality opens the door to its characters finding love in this harsh and hopeless place. A touching and moving film. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerFeb 9, 2026
Flamingo goes overboard on the surrealism at times, but by ultimately focusing on how Lidia comes to terms with the reality of the AIDS epidemic, it delivers a solid emotional blow by the end. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAllan HunterMay 24, 2025
Love is a constant saving grace in The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo. Diego Cespedes’s striking debut feature blends together a heady mixture of melodrama, western and coming of age tale to create an imaginative, indignant AIDS-era story. Read full review
80
VarietySiddhant AdlakhaMay 24, 2025
Whether the love it features on screen is simple or complex, and whether it’s romantic, platonic or maternal, the film lands on tremendously moving moments that stir the soul by scrutinizing the dueling cruelty and tenderness found within its characters. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesChase HutchinsonFeb 4, 2026
Critically, the film’s many revelations aren’t neat and tidy, but they are revealing in all the ways that matter. Read full review
75
IndieWireChristian ZilkoDec 11, 2025
Most of all, it’s about the depressing reality that some of us are capable of holding both of those extreme views about a person without noticing any level of contradiction. There might be no fixing such a fundamental flaw in the human condition, but “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” does an admirable enough job of dramatizing it. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comClint WorthingtonDec 10, 2025
At its heart, it’s an assured tale of queer resistance, blended with the supernatural rhythms of the folktale, and it feels suitably transgressive for its gender-nonconforming characters. It’s sweet, and affirming, and hopefully opens a few people’s eyes (and hearts). Read full review
75
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodMay 24, 2025
Dipping his toe into the not-so different motifs of Hollywood Westerns and telenovelas with a wink or two to some queer cinema classics, Céspedes has bold artistic aspirations. Read full review
75
The Film StageZhuo-Ning SuMay 24, 2025
With The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, Céspedes has proven both the skills to assemble a film and an understanding of his story’s significance––you can feel the hot-blooded indignation behind every frame. Read full review
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