A review of Noel Alejandro’s film The Mirror, an original and poetic short film about a gay breakup.

Noel Alejandro continues to explore his favourite themes—loss, disappearance, and reality blending with the fantastical when emotions become too heartbreaking—which he intertwines with his cinema of bodies. Since his earliest films, the director has used explicit scenes as a cinematic language in their own right: a climax of the plot, a kind of purgatory between the worlds of the living and the dead, those who remain and those who have left.

A romantic relationship confronted with a supernatural breakup

Here, we follow Roberto (Marco Merenda), who is in a relationship with the handsome Julien (dancer Bast Hippocrate). They live together in a beautiful flat and spend a relatively ordinary night together. But after being exposed to jo*nt smoke, Roberto thinks he catches sight of something strange. Panicked, he begins to hallucinate in front of his boyfriend, whose words he can no longer hear. It is then that the two boys notice a man with an alien-like appearance (Raul Gordillo) in their flat. He is there to deliver important news: their relationship is reaching a turning point.

A poetic metaphor for romantic mourning

Julien does not seem particularly surprised by the announcement, and the film’s purpose then becomes clear: to metaphorically depict the shock of a breakup. Roberto refused to see the signs; he literally does not want to hear Julien’s words, while Julien has already gradually faded from their daily life. Mourning the relationship is now inevitable, and it unfolds through a ballet of bodies, a secret Noel Alejandro knows well. The filmmaker has gradually taken greater care with the cinematography of his films, sharpened his precision in direction, and refined the supernatural imprint of his work. Both moving and poetic, The Mirror surprises with its delightfully strange sensuality and affirms its author’s aesthetic.

Film released in 2026 and available on Noel Alejandro’s website (Noelalejandrofilms-com)

Other fine films by Noel Alejandro

• Remember I am dead
• Doing Elliot
• Call me a ghost
• Under the rain
• Serodiscordantes