The Awakening of the Ants (2019)

Costa Rican cinema is finally starting to come into its own with the familial drama The Awakening of the Ants (2019) being one of the first big breakthrough international films to come from the Central American country. Submitted by the country as their official entry for the Best Foreign Language Feature at the 2019 Academy Awards—sadly it wasn't nominated—the film centers on Isabel (Daniela Valenciano), a 28-year old seamstress and mother of two daughters who is doing her best to not only raise her children up right, but also manage and maintain the household while her husband is away at work for 12 hours a day. However, Isabel is under increasing pressure not only from her husband Alcides (Leynar Gomez), but especially from her meddling mother-in-law Mireya (Carolina Fernandez) to have a third child because it's essential for them to have a male heir to carry on the family name. Rather than succumbing to the almost constant pressure from all sides to have a male child, Isabel finally decides she has had enough and embarks upon a silent rebellion. It may not be the means to the end that she was hoping for when it first begins, but as time goes on, she begins to learn the power in her own truth and femininity. While not exactly filled with nudity, the flick has a lot more skin than you might be expecting, with Daniela Valenciano baring her breasts in three different scenes, showing off her perfect natural pair that shows us the best Costa Rica has to offer! The Awakening of the Ants will cause an Awakening in Your Pants!