By Bruce Micallef Eynaud
A few years ago, in 2022, Siân Heder’s CODA surprisingly scooped up the Academy Award for Best Picture, beating out high-profile films from heavy hitters like Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson. CODA was a sweet, life-affirming film, but what really helped it stand out from the crowd was the way it shone a light on a marginalised community: the Deaf.
While CODA told its story from the perspective of a non-deaf teen living with a hearing-impaired family, Deaf (2025) is more direct in its approach—and ultimately much more effective. The Spanish drama follows Ángela, a deaf woman navigating both late-term pregnancy and early motherhood alongside her hearing partner, Héctor.
The central role is played by Miriam Garlo, a deaf actress and sister to the film’s director, Eva Libertad. Garlo grounds the film with a remarkable breakthrough performance, which has gone on to receive widespread acclaim and earned her the prestigious Best Actress award at the Málaga Film Festival. She is wholly believable in conveying her character’s anxieties and insecurities, and her casting makes a strong case for the authenticity that comes from hiring actors who genuinely share the disabilities of their characters.
Deaf, however, is in no way a lecture or a public service announcement. At its heart, this is a film about a relationship—and Álvaro Cervantes is equally affecting as Ángela’s partner. The respect, love, and frustration the pair feel for each other are palpable, and there’s an easy chemistry between them. More than being a story about disability, the film is as much about parenthood: how having a child can change the dynamic of a relationship and put couples to the test.
Libertad’s direction is unfussy and naturalistic, allowing scenes to play out in long takes that heighten the sense of realism and give the performances room to breathe. There’s a bravura stylistic choice in the film’s final act, in which the audience is given a true glimpse into Ángela’s experience of the world—we begin to understand just how isolating it can be for those living with her condition. It’s a masterstroke of an ending that recontextualises everything we’ve seen before.
