As someone whose historical knowledge of Hispaniola’s history is cursory, I found quite a bit to like about Ulises Porra’s solo debut feature Under the Same Sun. First and foremost, the cinematography by Sebastián Cabrera Chelin is its standout aspect. The way he captures natural light—from the spangling of sunlight in the lush Caribbean forests to candlelit interiors—does justice to the film’s setting. But he also beautifully films scenes of darkness and shadow, while indoor settings alternate between places of solace and refuge, or even spaces of austerity, depending on the story’s beats. He finds a way to imbue the requisite moods in his lensing of the story to complement the shifting relationships between the three central characters. Visually it really is a quietly beautiful-looking piece—a balm in a sea of Western films that continue to look incorrigibly drab and unexciting.
As mentioned, there are three main characters within the story, each of him could not be more different from each other: a young Spanish heir to a merchant family, Lázaro; a Chinese silk maker tasked to kickstart a silk trade in Hispaniola, Mei; and a Haitian army deserter, Baptiste. The three are brought together by chance, each vested with their own motives and allegiances, but nevertheless bound together to help harvest silkworms and earn money from the silk they’re able to produce on their makeshift farm. Lázaro is particularly invested in the endeavour, having promised to sell some of the finished product to the local archbishop of the region and do his late father proud.
But in the unforgiving world of eighteenth-century colonialism, successful livelihoods can unravel as easily as a skein of silk. And so, the character studies that Porra charts here find compelling notes in how they are done and undone by the larger, rapacious forces of empire. Bonds soon made are also bonds quickly broken—although, in Porra’s view, not irreparably so, finding some hope as he does in small degrees of reconciliation and showing that disparate personalities are not always natural enemies.
Ultimately, however, the film is an unsurprisingly damning indictment of the colonial order and those who continually sought to exploit it. This does not particularly distinguish it from other anticolonial stories of its ilk, as meaningful and timeless as the message remains, but Hispaniola’s history is still a novel enough vantage to examine from a contemporary standpoint. Those wishing to learn more about it would no doubt take away quite a bit from this particular treatment, with much to recommend from the talented cast and crew on display here.
Under the Same Sun had its world premiere at TIFF in the Centrepiece programme on September 11, 2025.
The Lonely Film Critic 