Film

Las acacias

Las acacias is a tender, patient film about an unlikely companionship formed over a long truck journey through South America. A middle-aged Argentine driver picks up a young Paraguayan woman and her baby, and over 85 minutes their silences and small moments create an indelible portrait of loneliness, kindness, and the things we don't say. It's quietly devastating—a film that trusts you completely.

TMDb rating3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like slow, observational road films where a small shared journey does the work of a whole relationship, and where silence and patience carry more feeling than dialogue.

Skip it if you need plot momentum or a clear sense of where things are heading; long stretches of quiet driving and close attention to small gestures can feel like waiting.

What it asks of you: It runs about eighty-five minutes but moves at the pace of the road itself, unhurried and mostly wordless, asking you to sit with a cab, a baby and the spaces between people.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Patagonia2010

Another Campillo film about solitary men in vast landscapes, where connection emerges through gesture and proximity rather than dialogue. A kindred spirit about patience and what endures.

But Even more sparing with plot than Las acacias. If you want narrative momentum or clear resolution, this will feel like watching paint dry in the Andes.

Patagonia poster

The Road2009

Two people bound together by circumstance, traveling through desolation with almost no dialogue. The same ache of tenderness amid hardship, though darker in tone and American in setting.

But Post-apocalyptic bleakness might feel like a different species of sadness. Some find the bleakness exhausting rather than moving.

The Road poster

Heartbeats2010

Another understated portrait of unspoken longing and the small revelations of being close to someone. Louder than Las acacias but equally attentive to what people don't articulate.

But It's about infatuation rather than maternal care. The emotional register is different enough that the comparison might not click for everyone.

Heartbeats poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Las acacias

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Milk of Sorrow2009

Both are intimate South American films about mothers, daughters, and the weight of unspoken history. Both trust silence completely.

Peruvian film about a woman and her daughter, inherited trauma moving silently through their bodies and their home. Like Las acacias, it's about what doesn't get said, and it's visually strange and utterly hypnotic.

But Magical realism and allegory. Dreamlike and abstract in ways Las acacias is not. Some will find it self-consciously artful where the truck driver's story feels honest.

The Milk of Sorrow poster
More like this (7)

A Prophet2009

A Campillo film about transformation through confinement and unlikely bonds. Same director, similarly hypnotic attention to human detail and the slow build of trust.

But It's set in prison and involves violence. The mood is grimmer, less about gentleness and more about survival and power.

A Prophet poster

Once Were Warriors1994

A single parent, a long struggle, small moments of grace amid hardship. Domestic rather than pastoral, but carries the same quiet dignity about people holding on.

But Much more brutal and angry. If you came to Las acacias for its softness, this will feel like a slap.

Once Were Warriors poster

Bicycle Thieves1948

A father and son, a journey through a city, the weight of trying to provide. Neorealist and economical in exactly the same way—plot is thin, observation is everything.

But Older, in Italian, and structurally more about failure. The hopelessness is more foregrounded than the tenderness.

Bicycle Thieves poster

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring2003

Cyclical, meditative, about an unlikely pair isolated together. Seasons change, nothing much happens, everything matters. Hypnotic in the way Las acacias is hypnotic.

But Korean, Buddhist in philosophy, almost abstract. Some will find it pretentious; others will feel it's too slow even for its own good.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring poster

The Florida Project2017

A single mother and her child in precarity, shot with tenderness that doesn't deny the darkness. Modern, accessible, and carries the same ache about love amid circumstance.

But More plot-driven and explicitly political about poverty. If you wanted something even more minimal than Las acacias, this will feel crowded.

The Florida Project poster

Mudbound2017

Slow-burn drama about the weight of proximity, unspoken tensions, and the things that hold people together. Rural, intimate, and gorgeously shot.

But Longer and denser. The American South setting and race dynamics make it a different animal entirely. Some find it overwrought.

Mudbound poster

Come and See1985

Both films understand that watching someone endure something quietly is more powerful than any explanation. Both let landscape and silence carry everything.

A Soviet film about a boy and a solitary journey through devastation. No dialogue for long stretches, the landscape and proximity do all the work. Brutal where Las acacias is gentle, but the engine is identical.

But Soviet war film from the 80s—a completely different register, visually harsh, emotionally harrowing. If you want another gentle film, this will feel like a betrayal.

Come and See poster

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