You’ve probably never heard of a "silk-punk" historical drama set in the 19th-century Caribbean. Honestly, most people haven't. But Under the Same Sun (originally titled Bajo el mismo sol), which made a massive splash at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), is changing that. It’s a movie that sounds like the setup to a joke: a Spanish heir, a Chinese master weaver, and a Haitian deserter walk into a jungle.
Except it isn't a joke. It’s a brutal, gorgeous, and surprisingly tense look at what happens when three people from three different continents try to start a silk factory in the middle of a literal wilderness.
What is Under the Same Sun really about?
Set in 1819 on the island of Hispaniola—long before the Dominican Republic was its own thing—the film follows Lázaro (played by David Castillo). He’s an awkward, kind of pathetic Spanish guy who’s obsessed with fulfilling his dead father’s dream. He wants to produce high-end silk in the Americas.
To do this, he brings along Mei (Valentina Shen Wu), a master silk maker from China. She is basically the only person who knows what she’s doing. Along the way, they run into Baptiste (Jean Jean), a former Haitian soldier who’s just trying to survive.
The three of them hide out in the jungle, tending to boxes of silkworms while dodging French patrols and the local church’s interference. It’s a weirdly intimate story. You’re watching these tiny worms eat mulberry leaves while, just a few miles away, empires are literally crumbling.
Director Ulises Porra doesn't go for the "epic war movie" vibe. Instead, he keeps the camera close. You see the grit under their fingernails and the tension in their faces.
The Weird Reality of Silk Production
One thing the under the same sun film 2025 gets incredibly right is the technical detail. The production team actually worked with real botanical gardens and "worm handlers" to show the silk-making process.
- They show the hatching of the eggs.
- The constant, almost deafening sound of worms munching on leaves.
- The meticulous boiling of cocoons to unravel the threads.
It’s tactile. You can almost feel the humidity through the screen.
Why the Characters Feel So Modern
Even though it’s set over 200 years ago, Lázaro feels like a guy you’d meet at a failing tech startup today. He’s obsessed with "success" as a way to prove his worth, even though he has zero survival skills.
Mei, on the other hand, is the real backbone. Valentina Shen Wu is a revelation in this role—this is her first-ever acting credit, which is wild considering how she commands the screen. She switches between Spanish and Mandarin and generally treats the men around her with a level of "can you just do your job?" energy that feels very 2025.
Then there’s Baptiste. He’s the most competent person in the group. He finds a pair of glasses early in the film, and the way he looks through them becomes a metaphor for the whole movie: seeing the world as it actually is, rather than how you want it to be.
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Why Under the Same Sun Still Matters Now
The film isn't just a history lesson. It’s a "prequel" to the globalized world we live in now. It tackles the messiness of different cultures being forced to work together under the "same sun."
There are some parts that don’t quite land, though. A few critics have pointed out that an early fight scene is filmed so tightly you can barely tell who is hitting who. And there’s a subplot involving some nuns and looms that feels a bit like filler. But the visuals? Man. Sebastian Cabrera Cheli’s cinematography makes the jungle look like a living oil painting.
How to Watch It and What to Expect
If you’re expecting an action-packed pirate movie, you’re going to be disappointed. This is a slow burn. It’s about the "absurdity and empathy" of three strangers trying to build something beautiful in a place that wants to swallow them whole.
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Key Takeaways for Viewers:
- Pace yourself: It’s 1 hour and 43 minutes of slow-building tension.
- Watch the background: The politics of 1819 Hispaniola are subtle but important.
- Appreciate the sound: The sound design of the silkworms is genuinely unsettling in the best way.
If you’re a fan of directors like Werner Herzog or Ciro Guerra (the guy who did Embrace of the Serpent), this is 100% in your wheelhouse. It’s a movie that stays with you, mostly because it asks a question we’re still trying to answer: can we ever truly see things through someone else's glasses?
Your Next Step:
Keep an eye on indie streaming platforms like MUBI or your local "prestige" theater listings. Since its TIFF premiere in late 2025, the film is rolling out to global audiences throughout early 2026. If you want to dive deeper into the history of the island, look up the 1819 division of Hispaniola—it makes the stakes in the film feel much higher once you realize how close these characters were to the edge of history.