Roiling with grief, shot-through with a piercing vision, the latest from Dominican filmmaker Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias has already scooped numerous accolades on its way to becoming one of the new Dominican cinema’s definitive statements.

Following a Santo Domingo gardener as he journeys to his home village to pay his respects to—and possibly avenge—his murdered father, Cocote is a story of competing convictions: religious beliefs, familial loyalties and the drive toward upward mobility in a corrupt society clash in scenes of furious confrontation and ecstatic worship. The arresting camerawork alternates between lyricism and starkness, shadow and light, while the seemingly simple story yields an expansive portrait of class disparity and rough justice. Electrifying, dynamic and restlessly inventive, Cocote represents the vanguard of Latin American cinema in 2018.

This film is also featured in the 2018 Film Festival’sJordan Ressler Screenwriting Competition film category.