11 Best Movies in Spanish

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11 Best Movies in Spanish

First let me preface with this. These selections are not in any particular order.

This is a list of the highest rated Spanish movies that I found through research and personal experience.

I have sorted through a list of over 50 potentials and narrowed it down to these top 11.

​Each movie has a bulleted list of the key points and a 2 minute trailer so you can determine if it is something you might be interested in watching.

In case you are looking for my personal favorite, I made that selection at the end of this article.

Now let’s dive into the Top 11 Spanish movies.

1) Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother)

This movie is about the interesting life of a young man named Esteban who doesn’t know his father and writes a diary about his discoveries. Esteban dies in an unexpected car accident.

His mother, Manuela, travels to Barcelona to find his father and soon discovers that he is a transsexual. This adds drama to the film and makes it even more interesting.

The movie was directed by the world-famous director Pedro Almodóvar and features excellent acting from numerous stars including Penelope Cruz. The film debuted in 1999 to rave reviews and scores an almost perfect, 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

If that isn’t enough, it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The movie is rated R and runs a little over an hour and a half long.

The storyline is complex with many hot button issues like Homosexuality, AIDS, and faith.

If you want to watch an excellent Spanish drama, we recommend you check out this one.

Key Points
​Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Language Film
Spoken with Spain Dialect
Rated R and 1.5 Hours Long
Superb Drama with 98% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

2) El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth)

Pan’s Labyrinth a fiction film about Cecilia, a girl who has moved in with her mother to a small town where she doesn’t want to live.

There she finds a faun that gives her an incredible revelation.

It is a bit of a horror and fantasy movie all rolled up into one. It has been described as Alice and Wonderland for grownups and currently enjoys a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film was written and directed by the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro in 2006 and has earned over $80M in the box office. The movie is rated R and runs about 2 hours long.

If you like dark movies with a fantasy twist, we recommend you checking out Pan’s Labyrinth.

Key Points
Dark Fantasy Drama
Spoken with Spain Dialect
Rated R and about 2 Hours Long
95% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

3) Y Tú Mama También (And Your Mother Also)

This is an interesting movie about two teens who are attracted to the same older woman who is in her 20’s.

They decide to plan a trip and invite her to come along. Amazingly, she decides to go, which leads to many wild and memorable adventures.

Y Tú Mama También is a Mexican drama that came out in 2001. It has received excellent reviews and has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2003, it was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay by the Academy Awards.

The movie is rated R due to sexual content and drug use. It runs for a little over an hour and a half.

Ready for a wild adventure? This might be just the movie for you.

Key Points
Adventure, Comedy, and Romance
Spoken with Mexican Dialect
Rated R and 106 Minutes Long
92% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

4) No Se Aceptan Devoluciones (Instructions Not Included)

No Se Aceptan Devoluciones is a comedy that leaves you walking away with a good message.

The story is about the life of a man who is forced to care for his daughter that suddenly shows up on his doorstep one day. He tries to find her mother to return the child, but then he decides he must keep his daughter and struggles to give her a good life.

It is co-written, directed by, and stars Eugenio Derbez.

Here’s one thing to note. It is probably one of the best movies to learn Spanish. It features a clear, Mexican dialect while sprinkling in some English as much of the film takes place in the US.

The film is rated PG-13 and runs about an hour and a half long. This lighthearted comedy came out in 2013 to mixed reviews. It only has a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but that is probably due to the fact that the plotline is rather simple is certainly not an “artsy movie.”

Personally, I really enjoyed this movie as it is fun and lighthearted and has a good message to it. I loved the acting and found it to be entertaining throughout.

It did not win any Academy Awards, but it has had widespread appeal and has grossed a whopping $100 million in the box office.

If you want a fun, lighthearted comedy spoken with the Mexican dialect, we recommend you check this one out.

Key Points
Mexican Directed and Acted
Lighthearted Comedy
Rated PG-13 and almost 2 Hours Long
Mixed Reviews and 55% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Best Movie To Learn Spanish

5) Amores Perros (Lifes a B****)

Amorres Perros is an action drama based in Mexico City.

It begins with a car chase that culminates with a terrible car accident involving 3 different vehicles. The movie shows how the accident affects the lives of 3 separate people and their families on that fateful day.

So it is a movie with three stories in one as they are all told one after the other. It comes highly recommended and has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

This movie is not for the faint of heart and has quite a bit of brutality to it. It explores the dark underworld of Mexico City and part of the criminal culture.

I found the opening story about Octavio to be very intriguing but also had to look away a little bit as the plot features a horrific dog fighting ring. It’s pretty disgusting (although you don’t see everything).

As expected, it is rated R for the violence, foul language, and sexuality. It is a long one as well and comes in at almost 2 and a half hours. Amorres Perros was released in 2000.

That being said, I liked it a lot and found all three stories to be very fascinating as they all tied together quite nicely yet were completely unique to the main character’s lives and struggles.

One of the lead actors is none other than the extremely popular and critically acclaimed Gael Garcia (Octavio).

If you are in for a dark action drama, I have no doubt you will like this one.

Key Points
Action Drama based in Mexico City
Features Three Uniquely Told and Intertwined Stories
Rated R and over 2 and a half Hours Long
92% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

6) Biutiful

Biutiful is the story of a man with cancer who struggles to care for and raise his two children as his spouse is an alcoholic.

This is a beautiful (or is it Biutiful?) story of a man overcoming in life.

This Spanish-Mexican drama came out in 2010 to, for the most part, positive reviews and has a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in the Academy Awards, but did not win.

It was directed by the famous Alejandro González Iñárritu who also directed the movie Amorres Perros mentioned above.

Biutiful is rated R for some disturbing content and sexuality and like Amorres Perros is a long movie that runs for almost 2 and a half hours.

Even though it is a Mexican and Spanish co-production it was shot in Barcelona, Spain so naturally has a dialect from Spain to it.

Personally, I didn’t love it and found it to be just okay. That being said, it does have some great reviews and many people have found it to be entertaining.

Key Points
Drama with a bit of Romance
Spoken with Spain Dialect
Rated R and 2 and a half Hours Long
64% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

7) Diarios de Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries)

This film is based on the diaries of “Che Guevara.” It is about a long trip on a motorcycle that Che takes with his friend around South America.

The film features some of the amazing life experiences that the two experienced before Che became a famous revolutionary.

You see the beautiful countryside’s of South America and meet some wonderful people along the way. Beyond that, you get to hear the unique and fun Argentinian accent.

It has a fantastic storyline and I found it to be very interesting throughout. The filmography and acting is superb. It was extremely moving at several moments of the story and definitely left me thinking after it ended.

I enjoyed watching the journey of these two on their motorcycle and found it to be a Latin classic.

Beyond that, it is probably the best movie for those learning Argentinian Spanish so you can get used to the typical accents.

This was also my favorite flic from this list.​

Key Points
Adventure Comedy with Sporadic Romance
Spoken with Argentinian Dialect
Features Che Guevara before he was a Revolutionary
Rated R and a little over 2 Hours Long
64% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

8) Aquí Entre Nos (Between Us)

This is a Mexican produced movie that is about a man named Rudolpho who takes a day off of work and realizes he wants to change his life after experiencing that freedom.

He finds himself tired of the way things are with his life and family and decides that he doesn’t want to go to back to work.

Thus, his wife becomes angry with him and he is forced to leave the house. Then the madness begins. The series features a lot of interesting themes such as divorce, marriage, infidelity, etc.

It is a comedy, so if you are looking to laugh a little bit this might be the best movie for you.

It is a highly acclaimed Mexican comedy that came out in 2011 and features a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It is about an hour and a half long and doesn’t appear to be rated.

If you are looking for a fun family drama and comedy, we think you should check this one out.

Key Points
Family Drama with a bit of Comedy
Spoken with Mexican Dialect
Not Rated and about an Hour and a Half Long
99% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes!

9) Una Noche (One Night)

The movie is centered around Raul who lives in Havana, Cuba. He hopes to one day escape to Miami. During his time in Cuba, he gets into trouble and he seeks to find a way out.

Thus, Raul makes plans for the arduous 90-mile journey through the ocean to get to Florida. It is a fantastic film with plenty of drama and even some love interests.

It is loosely based on a true story. The film appeared in 2012 to high acclaim and currently has an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The plotline is captivating and I am sure you will be very entertained throughout the hour and a half that this movie runs. Just like Aquí Entre Nos, the movie is not rated with a maturity level.

If you want to see the Cuban dialect first hand and see a little bit of the often maligned but beautiful country, I recommend checking out Una Noche. I am confident you will find it interesting!

Key Points
Romance Drama loosely Based on True Story
Spoken with Cuban Dialect
Not Rated and 90 Minutes Long
81% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

10) También La Lluvia (Even The Rain)

The movie begins in 2000 with a film crew that is seeking to shoot a controversial film about the Spanish conquest of Latin America.

They find themselves traveling to Cochabamba, Bolivia of all places.

However, when they get there they become embroiled in an ongoing conflict with locals revolting against plans to privatize the water supply.

It is a fantastic and historical movie with superb acting from lead stars Luis Tosar and Gael Garcia Bernal. The movie was released in 2010 and runs for 103 minutes long with an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

This story, is a little more personal to me. Although I was not around during the intense water protests, I did live in Cochabamba, Bolivia for 5 months a little over a year ago. I was able to hear firsthand how difficult this time period was for the people during that time.

Water is a scarce resource in Bolivia that many people do not have continual access to.

I lived in a decent middle class neighborhood and even then, infrequently found myself waiting to get back running water in the house.

I highly recommend you check this movie out as it is enthralling throughout. Plus, you can hear a little bit of the Bolivian Accent.

Key Points
Historical Drama Based on a True Story
Spoken with Spain and Bolivian Dialect
Not Rated and an Hour and 40 Minutes Long
88% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

11) Abre los Ojos (Open Your Eyes)

This 1997 film is about a good looking 25 year old that starts imagining and then sees the woman of his dreams.

Then the movie takes a terrible turn. After suffering a horrendous injury, he is forced to have surgery to look normal once again. Everything in his life starts to change.

It is a gripping film on the exploration of existentialism and the human spirit.

Perhaps, you have seen the American remake of this movie titles Vanilla Sky that came out with Tom Cruise and Penélope Cruz in 2001.

It is hard to fit this movie into one category as it is a little bit unusual. It is a Sci-Fi thriller and mystery drama all wrapped up in one. Of course it has a bit of romance that sets the basis for the movie throughout.

The movie is a Spanish production and runs for almost 2 hours long. It has an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It is rated R for some strong sexuality and language throughout.

Take a look at the trailer below and see if it is something you would be interested in.