Ariel

'Ariel' is a 2025 film directed by Lois Patiño that offers a contemporary and dreamlike reading of 'The Tempest' by William Shakespeare. The story is set in the Azores and is constructed as a delicate bridge between reality and fiction, where the creative process, identity, and freedom intertwine to form a contemplative and metaphorical cinematic narrative. 

The film follows Agustina (Agustina Muñoz), an Argentine actress who travels to the islands to participate in a theatrical production of the Shakespearean play with a Galician company. She plans to rehearse and perform the play in an insular setting, but upon arrival, she encounters a bewildering landscape: there is no trace of the company or clear indications of how the production will continue. Soon, the island itself begins to respond to her presence in unexpected ways, and reality seems to slide into the strange, the poetic, and the spectral.

In that mysterious environment, Agustina meets Ariel (Irene Escolar), a young woman who acts as a guide and enigmatic presence. Ariel embodies, both literally and symbolically, the spirit that names the title and which in 'The Tempest' represents the spirit of the air: free, elusive, and deeply connected to the landscape. Through her interaction with Ariel, Agustina begins to reconsider not only her role within the play but also the boundaries between her own identity and the multiple faces that fiction can adopt.