The Old Man and the Parrot: Your Guide to the Darkly Comic Slamdance Gem

What if your dead lover's soul was trapped inside a taxidermy parrot? And what if the only way to free it involved an armed home invasion, a mute spiritual guru, and his estranged daughter? That's the wild, darkly comedic premise of The Old Man and the Parrot, a unique film that premiered at Slamdance Film Festival in 2026. If you're looking for a movie that defies easy categorization — a bit Bubba Ho-Tep meets a Jared Hess oddball comedy, but with a deeply felt Cuban soul — then you absolutely need to check this out. It's a tight 85-minute watch, and you can stream it now.

Should You Watch It? A Pistol, a Parrot, and a Soul

The Old Man and the Parrot dives headfirst into Miami's Little Havana, a vibrant neighborhood steeped in the bittersweet memories of exile. Here, we meet Praxi, played by the incredibly tender and weathered Ruben Rabasa. Praxi carries a taxidermied parrot, convinced it holds the soul of his late partner, Yoelvis. Honestly, this setup alone hooked me. When something shifts with the parrot — a subtle change only Praxi seems to perceive — he doesn't reach for a phone; he reaches for a pistol. His target? Radel, a stroke-stricken spiritual guru he blames for trapping Yoelvis's soul years ago.

What unravels next is a bizarre negotiation: part tense home invasion, part unexpected séance, part very unconventional family therapy. Radel's estranged daughter, Ana, gets reluctantly dragged into this spiritual mess, realizing quickly that her father's old curse is now everyone's problem. It's funny, it's sad, and it's surprisingly heartfelt. The film’s genre-bending style — from broad farce to genuine emotional depth — is its greatest strength. If you enjoy character-driven comedies with real stakes and a touch of the surreal, this film is for you.

Ruben Rabasa & The Standout Performances

Honestly, Ruben Rabasa is the gravitational pull of The Old Man and the Parrot. His portrayal of Praxi could easily have been a caricature — the stubborn old man talking to a dead bird, on a quixotic mission. Instead, Rabasa imbues him with such a funny-sad sincerity that you can't help but root for him, even when his actions are completely irrational. He's just trying to grieve.

The rest of the small cast are equally vital:

• Ruben Rabasa as Praxi
• René Lavan as Yoelvis (appearing in flashbacks and, metaphysically, as the parrot)
• Serafin Falcon as Radel, the mute guru
• Isabella Bobadilla as Ana, Radel's daughter

Critics have praised the film's ability to balance its tones. Film Threat called it "beautifully insane" and drew comparisons to the oddball comedies of Jared Hess (think Napoleon Dynamite) blended with Bubba Ho-Tep — a description that’s accurate, actually. There’s a scene where Praxi tries to explain the metaphysics of the parrot situation to Ana, and the sheer gap between his total conviction and her exhausted skepticism creates much of the film's unique humor. Elements of Madness, awarding it 4 out of 5 stars, described it as "an intimate, soothing story of love and loss," which sounds contradictory given the pistol and the break-in. But that very tension is the point.

Where to Stream The Old Man and the Parrot (and What to Know About Its Rating)

The good news? You don't need a film festival pass to catch The Old Man and the Parrot. It's available now on major OTT streaming services. The specific platform lineup can shift, though, so the most reliable way to find where to watch it is a live availability tracker. I always recommend checking Movie OTT for up-to-date streaming options, especially for indie films like this one that might appear on different services depending on your region. Movie OTT tracks availability across platforms, which is genuinely useful for films moving through the festival-to-streaming pipeline.

Regarding its official rating, it's worth noting that The Old Man and the Parrot hasn't received an MPAA rating yet, nor has it accumulated a formal Rotten Tomatoes critic score (it’s still in early festival-release territory). Despite this, critical responses from those who saw it at Slamdance have been consistently warm, and it has already earned one festival nomination. It's a comedy with dark themes, a pistol, and talk of souls, so expect it to be geared towards adult audiences.

From Little Havana to Slamdance: The Film's Unique Story

The Old Man and the Parrot marks the feature directorial debut of Gabriel de Varona, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Ondarza. They developed the project under several production companies, including Cocuyo Productions, White Elephant Group, and Oolite Arts.