The first trailer has been released for Hombre al agua, the third feature directed by Mexican actor and filmmaker Gael García Bernal, who also stars, co-writes, and produces. The film will have its world premiere in the Venice Spotlight section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, followed by its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The trailer also reveals a previously unannounced addition to the cast: Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin, who appears in the film and serves as an executive producer. Martin plays Roby, an actor hired to portray García Bernal’s character, Camilo, in a biographical film within the film. The role marks Martin’s return to acting entirely in Spanish after more than two decades.
Co-written by García Bernal and acclaimed Argentine playwright and filmmaker Mariano Pensotti, Hombre al Agua follows Camilo, a Cuban lifeguard who saves Mexican businessman Abel from drowning. Grateful for the rescue, Abel brings Camilo to Mexico, where he marries Abel’s daughter, Juana, and starts a family. But Camilo soon discovers that his seemingly fortunate new life is part of Abel’s elaborate scheme of manipulation and control.
Described as a comedy-drama with surreal undertones, the film uses Camilo’s increasingly precarious circumstances to explore questions of power, masculinity, intimate relationships, and contemporary Latin America. In his director’s statement, García Bernal describes Hombre al Agua as an “open love letter” to the seas he has navigated throughout his life and a fable through which he wanted to examine “the crisis of masculinity” and “the political soul of Latin America.”
The international cast also includes Esmeralda Pimentel, Débora Nascimento, Natalia Oreiro, Anna Díaz, Ezequiel Díaz, Manuel García Rulfo, and Jorge Salinas. The 116-minute film is a production of La Corriente del Golfo, Cárcava Cine, and Redrum, with García Bernal, Fernanda de la Peza, and Stacy Perskie credited as producers.
Hombre al agua marks García Bernal’s return to feature directing following Déficit (2007) and Chicuarotes (2019), both of which were presented at the Cannes Film Festival. The new film will have its official Venice premiere on September 6 before heading to Toronto.
Watch the trailer below:
