Director Sebastián Lelio accomplished two historic accomplishments this past Oscar night: He brought home Chile’s first taste of gold with the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and provided the astounding Daniela Vega (in a performance of a lifetime) to become the first transgender artist to star as the lead in an Oscar-winning film.

The film focuses on Marina and Orlando, a couple who are in love and planning for the future. Marina is a young waitress and aspiring singer. Orlando is 20 years older than her, and owns a printing company. After celebrating Marina’s birthday one evening, Orlando falls seriously ill. Marina rushes him to the emergency room, but he passes away just after arriving at the hospital. Instead of being able to mourn her lover, suddenly Marina is treated with suspicion. The doctors and Orlando’s family don’t trust her. A woman detective investigates Marina to see if she was involved in his death. Orlando’s ex-wife forbids her from attending the funeral. And to make matters worse, Orlando’s son threatens to throw Marina out of the flat she shared with Orlando. Marina is a trans woman and for most of Orlando’s family, her sexual identity is an aberration, a perversion. So Marina struggles for the right to be herself. She battles the very same forces that she has spent a lifetime fighting just to become the woman she is now – a complex, strong, forthright and fantastic woman.

“A FANTASTIC WOMAN is at once a straightforward story of self-assertion and defiance and a complex study of the nuances of identity.” (The New York Times)

“Subtle and tender, A FANTASTIC WOMAN handles its timely, sensitive subject matter with care.” (Rotten Tomatoes)

Wednesday, April 4
Doors 8:45 pm | Movie 9:15 pm

Advance tickets $10 HERE | $12 at the door

*Minors permitted in the balcony! Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service and main floor seating.
*Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK! Please redeem at the door.

A FANTASTIC WOMAN “Una mujer fantástica” (14A) is a 2017 Chilean drama film directed by Sebastián Lelio, written by Lelio and Gonzalo Meza, produced by Juan de Dios and Pablo Larraín and starring Daniela Vega and Francisco Reyes. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. It was selected as the Chilean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film where it won in the 90th Academy Awards.