agmtw logo
search

The Pearl Button (2015)

The Pearl Button (2015)

6.9

Movie

Chile, France
Spanish
Documentary
2015

What it's about

The ocean contains the history of all humanity. The sea holds all the voices of the earth and those that come from outer space. Water receives impetus from the stars and transmits it to living creatures. Water, the longest border in Chile, also holds the secret of two mysterious buttons which were found on its ocean floor. Chile, with its 2,670 miles of coastline and the largest archipelago in the world, presents a supernatural landscape. In it are volcanoes, mountains and glaciers. In it are the voices of the Patagonian Indigenous people, the first English sailors and also those of its political prisoners. Some say that water has memory. This film shows that it also has a voice.

The take

A beautiful, poetic and disturbing ode to the waters of the Chilean archipelago from the perspective of the stars and planets, its Indigenous inhabitants, and the bodies of those who were disappeared into it under the Pinochet regime. As Patricio Guzman tells us and shows us, water has a memory and a voice. The opening sequence is like Salgado's "Genesis" photos but in colour and moving on the screen, absolutely breathtaking.

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

My Old Ass (2024)

A pleasant mix of comedy and coming-of-age that may or may not leave you in tears

8.0

Once Were Warriors (1994)

A Maori family survives in an alienating Auckland in this raw, tragic drama

8.0

A Real Pain (2024)

Two cousins bond as they trace their roots in this powerfully emotional dramedy

8.0

System Crasher (2019)

A tale of trauma and one of the most talked about movies on Netflix in 2020.

9.0

Look Back (2024)

Art connects people through time and space in this short and sweet drama

8.5

Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

Three guys grow up and fall in love in this entertaining and balanced ensemble romcom

7.5

Hail Satan? (2019)

Forget everything you think you know about the Satanic Temple

8.0

Flow (2024)

We can learn a thing or two from this animal tale of selflessness and survival

8.0

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Shyamalan meets Black Mirror in this hugely entertaining, visually inventive apocalyptic thriller with a killer ending

8.2

Cold War (2018)

A quiet Polish masterpiece with ravishing music and dazzling visuals

9.2

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2025 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.