Miami Film Fest ’25: Becoming Vera

Taylor Swift gets a lot of publicity, but for teen girls, it is Latin Jazz that truly sustains their souls. At least, such is the case for 18-year-old Vera, who undeniably represents her generation. Her age is critically important. After turning eighteen, she aged out of Miami’s foster care system, so she now must fend for herself. However, she is not completely alone. She has two meat-headed friends and more importantly, she has her music in director-screenwriter Sergio Vizuete’s Becoming Vera, which screens during the 2025 Miami Film Festival.

Having shared several foster homes with Daniel, they stayed together platonically after they aged-out together. Jake is the newcomer, who met them through their former social worker, Ariel. He is not supposed to help them anymore, but he tries to find them temp work on the sly.

Since she has a strong work ethic, Vera is the most employable of the three, especially as a house and office painter. Her next gig happens to be the new studio sleazy music producer Hector is renovating. He is trying to build Ellen’s career, but he immediately recognizes how Vera’s noodling improved on the tune they are trying to record. Soon, he dangles the promise of a big break in front of her, in exchange for her free arranging work.

Of course, viewers know an exploiter when they see Hector. Despite often living rough, Vera is not so worldly and her confidence is fragile. Yet, Jake, the new guy, who maybe has something more in mind than platonic friendship, constantly offers Vera the encouragement she never had before.

Frankly, Becoming Vera depicts two groups of young people who are almost completely unrepresented in the media: aspiring jazz musicians and foster care survivors who aged-out. Vizuete treats his young characters with great sensitivity and honesty. There is no denying they make a lot of bad decisions, but they clearly do not have a lot of good choices available to them.

It is also cool to see Vera’s passion for Latin Jazz. The music Pancho Burgos-Goizueta composed for Vera and Ellen, whose piano performances were doubled by Lincoln R. Gonzalez and Anika Vila, respectively, are appropriately rhythmically complex and sophisticated. Unfortunately, Vizuete did not have faith in his characters’ music for the incidental soundtrack, using rather colorless, ambient cues instead.

Nevertheless, both Raquel Lebish and Nicolas Pozo are remarkably grounded and engaging as Vera and Jake. You really feel for both kids throughout the film—and they really are just kids. Gabriel Diehl is no J.K. Simmons, but he still makes Hector the most loathsome jazz villain since Whiplash (in an effective and intentional way).

Surprisingly, Becoming Vera does not make more of its Miami setting, but, obviously, Vera and her friends do not have much opportunity to enjoy the South Beach nightlife. However, Vizuete and company are clearly attuned to the local music culture. Recommended for its humanist perspective and its characters’ music, Becoming Vera screens tomorrow night (4/9) as a selection of the Miami Film Festival.