Vague Visages’ Villa Encanto review contains minor spoilers. Joel Perez’s 2025 short film features Josh Segarra, Sol Marina Crespo and Adriana Medina Santiago. Check out the VV home page for more film criticism, movie reviews and film essays. 

Adriana Medina Santiago makes her (short) film debut in Villa Encanto, a 16-minute family drama about the concept of home. Director Joel Perez, cinematographer Matheus Bastos and production designer Samantha Shoffner Diggle produce a retro 60s aesthetic with their color palette and set design, while the script — co-written by Perez and supporting actress Sol Marina Crespo — packs in an impressive amount of character detail. Set in the Catskills of New York, the short examines the relationship between an orchestra leader/widower from Spanish Harlem, Pablo Baez (Josh Segarra), who lands a gig at the struggling Villa Encanto Motel and hires his teenage daughter, Teresa, (Santiago), to replace his late wife as the group’s lead vocalist.

Villa Encanto’s naturalistic feel and warm colors invite the audience into the world of the titular location. As a motel owner named Leila Maldonado (the aforementioned Crespo) hopes to keep her parents’ business alive, young Teresa complains about missing out on a Puerto Rico summer with her cousins. She also struggles with stage fright and personal insecurities, which certainly doesn’t go unnoticed by her demanding yet empathetic father. Segarra — who is perhaps best known for his comedic roles — portrays a stern character who manages his emotions for the sake of his daughter and collaborators, just like a typical American father from the 60s. What’s unique about Villa Encanto, however, is that the short film’s backstage scenes betray traditional concepts of masculinity. Tight close-ups underline the bond between the central protagonists, especially when Pablo wraps his late wife’s necklace around Teresa’s neck before a performance. The teenage girl subsequently finds her groove on stage, only to quickly flee to her dressing room when she imagines her mother sitting in the audience section.

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If there’s a weak spot in Villa Encanto, it’s that Perez doesn’t fully address Teresa’s meltdown, evidenced by Pablo’s somewhat strange dialogue and reaction after the incident. The teenage character actually starts packing her bags, and Segarra’s protagonist acts like it’s a normal thing. I’m not a parent, however, so maybe this does indeed make sense — maybe it’s typical behavior for the young girl. Still, the moment comes across as a matter of time efficiency — a way to guide the audience along to the short film’s most heartwarming sequence, in which the father and daughter embrace and live in the present moment, finally able to mutually identify the Catskills as their new home.

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Villa Encanto seems destined to be adapted into a feature. It’s one of two short films that Perez has directed (both released in 2025), and the filmmaker’s acting experience (his resume dates back 15 years) will come in handy when he starts making full-length productions. Hopefully, the three main performers will reprise their roles in a feature adaptation, as they share strong chemistry and work wonders by non-verbally communicating small details about their characters. Perhaps most importantly, Villa Encanto’s lively music brings everything together, and would undoubtedly be a crowd-pleaser in a feature film that would theoretically takes place in both 60s Spanish Harlem and the Catskills. Maybe Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Encanto, In the Heights) could help make this happen.

Villa Encanto screened at the 2025 Borscht Belt Film Fest on November 1, 2025.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film essays at Vague Visages.

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