SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! Gabriel de Varona’s (with co-writer Kevin Ondarza) The Old Man and the Parrot is a beautifully insane story about love, redemption, and pursuing dreams on foreign shores that feels partly like a Jared Hess movie, cross-pollinated with Bubba Ho-Tep, all set once upon a time in Miami’s Little Havana.
Ruben Rabasa is Praxi, an aging Cuban exile, former comedian, wandering the streets carting a taxidermied parrot, which the codger insists is the vessel of the soul of his late partner, Yoelvis (René Lavan), a struggling vegetarian chef with a dream of opening his own business in the US.
The action kicks off when Praxi breaks into the home, armed with an old, powder-loaded pistol, of Radel (Serafin Falcon), the backyard alchemist and Praxi’s former neighbour, whose curse handles Yoelvis’s incarcerated afterlife.
Rendered mute from his latest stroke, Radel is without the power of speech. Praxi must barter and joust then with Radel’s daughter, Ana (Isabella Bobadilla), as the story jumps from present to past, showing the trail of tears and triumphs as Praxi and Yoelvis inspire each other. Their friendship, which blossoms into a relationship, stems from misfortune and misunderstanding. But soon, Yoelvis’s passion for his dream becomes infectious, leaving Praxi with nothing to do to but invest his life in his partner’s vision.
“…aging Cuban exile, former comedian, wandering the streets carting a taxidermied parrot…”
Still, Praxi is a man torn by opposing passions. While seeking to help his friend, he encounters the interest of his chicken-loving neighbour, Radel, who offers the men his services should they require them. But Yoelvis distrusts the shadowy and concealing character over the fence, and presses Praxi to just help him and work hard. Then all they can dream will be theirs.
But the business is slow to build, and the excitement for vegan food just isn’t firing on all cylinders. Yet, Yoelvis continues despite an uphill fight. Praxi, meanwhile, is trying to revive his stand-up comedy career while succumbing to the mystical forces proposed by Radel. All he wants is for his partner to succeed. And he’s prepared to do anything.
We learn Radel’s wife is dead, and he can transfer the souls of the ones he loves into other objects. When Yoelvis catches Praxi conspiring with Radel’s half-assed sorcery, an argument ensues ,which lifts a dark secret and sees the invocation of the curse that guided all our characters to the stand-off they now find themselves a part of.
Funny, sad, silly, and serious, a whimsically cartoonish and resoundingly emotional performance from Ruben Rabasa propels The Old Man and the Parrot as the title role (his first leading role in a 40-year career). As our avatar went on a journey about finding a warm hearth to rest your heart against, and achieving all of your desires, Rabasa shows us that the shedding of hate, fear, and regret is the true freedom we all should seek. Varona frames this poignant corn exquisitely, at the center of his bright, buoyant, and bat-s**t-crazy dramedy, as fun as it is fascinating.
The Old Man and the Parrot screened at the 2026 Slamdance Film Festival.
"…Funny, sad, silly and serious..."
