SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! In writer-director Belle Casares’s The Last Puestero, we travel to Patagonia, Argentina, where Segundo “Adonai” Jara works as a puestero — a ranch caretaker situated at a remote outpost — at Ranch El Porvenir. His small world includes a horse, a saddle, and open country. He rides long distances across wide valleys and mountain prairies to protect his cattle from poachers and predators.
As the title implies, the short documentary spotlights the lost art of being a puestero. In fact, there are very few left in Argentina. As the world outside the ranch has evolved and modernized, the ranch remains stuck in a centuries-old way of life. It used to be that a puestero would pass the trade to his children, then to his children’s children, and so on. Today, a puestero’s kids would rather move to the city to seek an education and enjoy modern amenities, such as electricity and television.
A century ago, my grandparents moved to America and lived in their respective Chinatowns, with the singular dream that their children would go to college and succeed in their new homeland. For the most part, that’s exactly what happened. Everyone left Chinatown, now in the grip of gentrification.
“He rides long distances across wide valleys and mountain prairies to protect his cattle from poachers and predators.”
The Last Puestero is very much a story of a bygone time. Casares does an incredible job of lifting up the puesteros on the high altar they deserve. The filmmaker paints their story in beautiful, compelling colors. Hell, this is how I want to retire. At a simple ranch in the middle of a gorgeous landscape, Adonai’s wife is seen weaving on a loom, while he strips leather to make rope and slaughters cattle for a magnificent feast over an open fire he started.
In a way, this is a warning to the world that blue-collar work is something you walk away from in order to build your social media platform… or at least enjoy the pleasure of hot-and-cold running water. It’s impossible to watch this short film and not wonder what the future holds for the simple, quiet ranch lifestyle, especially when it’s the kind of land a megacorporation will eventually buy.
By the time The Last Puestero wraps, Casares has captured more than a disappearing trade, she’s captured a whole philosophy of living that modern life keeps trying to “optimize” out of existence. If Adonai is truly the last, then this plays like a respectful elegy and a plea to turn back to a simpler way of life.
The Last Puestero screened at the 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
"…this is how I want to retire."
