Sundance Puerto Rican Drama THE FISHBOWL Expands to Additional Theaters After Strong Debut

Puerto Rican Lyrical Ecofeminist Drama

THE FISHBOWL (LA PECERA) by Glorimar Marrero Sánchez

Expands U.S. Theatrical Run After Strong Debut

A Poignant Exploration of the Ecological and Emotional Impacts

of American Colonialism in Puerto Rico, the Sundance-Selected Film Expands to Select Theaters Across the NYC Tri-State Area, Florida, Philadelphia, and Other Cities This Friday, April 4

Monument Releasing announces the U.S. theatrical expansion of the acclaimed Puerto Rican ecofeminist drama The Fishbowl (La Pecera), the striking feature debut of interdisciplinary artist Glorimar Marrero Sánchez. Following a strong theatrical release debut, and making history as the first Puerto Rican-produced feature to premiere at Sundance, the film expands to additional U.S. theaters across the New York tri-state area, Philadelphia, Florida, and other cities this Friday, April 4. A streaming release will follow on June 4, 2025.

Set on the island of Vieques—a U.S. military testing ground for toxic munitions like napalm, depleted uranium, and Agent Orange—The Fishbowl tells the story of Noelia (Isel Rodríguez in an elegant performance), a 40-year-old artist grappling with terminal cancer. Determined to use her remaining time resisting the ecological and social consequences of U.S. colonialism, Noelia's journey unfolds as both a personal and collective act of resilience.

After discovering her cancer has returned and metastasized, Noelia retreats to her home in Vieques, where she reconnects with her mother and her community. Choosing to keep her illness a secret in the absence of local medical care, she devotes herself to protesting the enduring environmental devastation caused by military activity. As a hurricane looms and her health deteriorates, she rekindles a past romance and faces a profound decision: to leave and seek treatment or to remain with her people and her cause.

Featuring a predominantly female cast and crew, The Fishbowl is both a compelling character study and a poignant commentary on environmental racism, colonialism, and resilience. Marrero Sánchez emerges as a vital voice in Puerto Rican cinema, creating a film that resonates far beyond its setting.

"Emotionally charged and politically relevant."

—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times

"[Glorimar Marrero] Sánchez's film manages to not only

make an ecological statement, it also sweeps you away."

—Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

"Exposes the continuing wounds of colonization

while showing Puerto Rican autonomy, grief, and grace."

—Cristina Escobar, Latino Rebels

"Quietly powerful, approaching a catharsis

that lyrically unearths how mourning is not without hope."

—Alyssa Miller, No Film School

Confirmed Theatrical Dates (Additional Theaters TBA):

Methuen, MA: AMC Methuen 20 — Opens Friday, April 4

West Nyack, NY: AMC Palisades 21 — Opens Friday, April 4

New Brunswick, NJ: AMC New Brunswick 18 — Opens Friday, April 4

Elizabeth, NJ: AMC Jersey Gardens 20 — Opens Friday, April 4

Plainville, CT: AMC Plainville 20 — Opens Friday, April 4

Danbury, CT: AMC Danburt 16 — Opens Friday, April 4

Aventura, FL: AMC Aventura Mall 24 — Opens Friday, April 4

Cherry Hill Township, NJ: AMC Cherry Hill 24 — Opens Friday, April 4

 Bensalem, PA: Neshaminy 24 — Opens Friday, April 4

Tampa, FL: AMC Highwoods 20 — Opens Friday, April 4

Sedona, AZ: Mary D. Fisher Theatre — Opens Friday, April 11 

THE FISHBOWL (LA PECERA). Puerto Rico/Spain, 2023, 92 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. Director/Writer: Glorimar Marrero Sánchez; Producers: José Esteban Alenda, Amaya Izquierdo, Glorimar Marrero Sánchez; Production Companies: Canica Films, Solita Films, Auna Producciones; Cinematographer: PJ López, SPC; Editor: Clara Martínez Malagelada; Production Design: María Eugenia Sueiro; Sound Designer: Maité Rivera Carbonell; Sound Mixer: Maité Rivera Carbonell; Music: Sergio de la Puente; Cast: Isel Rodriguez (Noelia), Modesto Lacén (Juni), Magali Carrasquillo (Flora), Maximiliano Rivas (Jorge). Distributed by Monument Releasing.

About the Director:

Glorimar Marrero Sánchez is a Puerto Rican filmmaker, screenwriter and interdisciplinary artist whose work is related to grief, identity, colonialism and gender. Her work includes film, photography and installation, The Fishbowl is her debut feature film. In 2017, she won the Best Screenplay Award in the Unpublished Screenplay Competition of the New Latin American Film Festival in Havana, Cuba. That same year, she premiered Revuelo en Roosevelt, a piece of video art commissioned by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2019, she premiered the documentary Juana(s) Matos, commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico. Glorimar has been an artist-in-residence at the University of Chicago, MASS MoCA, and the Latin American Studies Program at Princeton University. Her work has been presented in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, the United States and Europe. She currently resides and works between San Juan, Puerto Rico, Madrid, Spain and Hyde Park, Chicago.