Bella

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Bella

PG-13

2007

1h 31m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

45%

Tomatometer

64 Reviews

81%

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10,000+ Ratings

After Nina (Tammy Blanchard) is fired from her waitressing job for being late, she leans on the restaurant's chef, Jose (Eduardo Verástegui), for support. Though they don't know each other very well, Nina confides in Jose that she is pregnant and considering an abortion. Understanding that Nina is going through a tough time, Jose invites her to his home. They spend the day together and tell each other their most painful secrets, and what Nina learns about Jose changes her life forever.

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Critics Consensus

Critics labeled Bella as a simplistic and mostly pedestrian, but positive word of mouth gave this tiny indie surprising theatrical legs.

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Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

Oct 6, 2010

2/5

The film is nicely shot in New York and subtitled "One moment can change your life forever". There's not a moment here likely to change ours.

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Susan Walker

Toronto Star

Apr 11, 2008

3/4

This is not a weepy, but a story about healing, forgiveness and redemption.

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Rick Groen

Globe and Mail

Apr 10, 2008

2/4

From the quiet performances to the sensitive direction, everything about this movie is convincing except the very story that drives it.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Sep 2, 2020

3.0/4.0

On the strength of the performances alone, Bella garners a recommendation.

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Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Nov 6, 2019

Shining its own special glow, BELLA is about family, friendship, tragedy, joy and the undeniable healing power of love and touches on the humanness and need in us all.

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Lucy Popescu

CineVue

Nov 5, 2018

3/5

What works well on television does not always translate well onto the big screen and, despite some arresting moments, for the most part I found Bella's cloying sentimentality a real turn-off.

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Keith B

@Okbullard Jun 29, 2026

Wow this was such an enjoyable film with an amazing ending. Yes it was definitely nice to see a good film without the typical language, sex and drugs. It's absolutely worth your time.

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Andreas S

@Simon4Says Jan 20, 2026

The discrepancy between the mediocre average that the critics' ratings result in and those of audiences is remarkable. I have watched this film for the first time in 2007 when a friend recommended it, and I had not been disappointed. Both central guilt-related questions, the one over the involuntary manslaughter and the other over a potential abortion, most likely feel relevant only to those with pronounced levels of empathy or those who have gone through life-changing events like that themselves. Hidden behind this non-sexual love story between Nina and José are their respective (potential) traumas. And while she goes through the very real journey of being able to revisit a potential choice by meeting the little girl (whose early childhood she had missed), he learns the karmic lesson that having *taken* a life can only be possibly remedied in the soul by *saving* another.

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Aug 31, 2024

This movie is a gem.

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Oct 3, 2020

Beautiful story with an amazing message. That life is precious

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Dec 11, 2019

Very touching. Real characters supporting and accepting each others' "flaws".

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Sep 17, 2019

I had low expectations for this movie (we grabbed it at the library) but was pleasantly surprised. I found it to truly be a beautiful movie. It passed my "cry" test as I definitely cried just from the amazing love and drama that these actors conjured up. It also made being a Mexican look very cool.

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Alejandro Gómez Monteverde

Director

Eduardo Verástegui

Jose

Tammy Blanchard

Nina

Manny Perez

Manny

Angélica Aragón

Mother

Jaime Tirelli

Father

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Synopsis

After Nina (Tammy Blanchard) is fired from her waitressing job for being late, she leans on the restaurant's chef, Jose (Eduardo Verástegui), for support. Though they don't know each other very well, Nina confides in Jose that she is pregnant and considering an abortion. Understanding that Nina is going through a tough time, Jose invites her to his home. They spend the day together and tell each other their most painful secrets, and what Nina learns about Jose changes her life forever.

Director: Alejandro Gómez Monteverde
Producer: Alejandro Monteverde, Denise Pinckley, Leo Severino, Eduardo Verástegui, Sean Wolfington
Screenwriter: Alejandro Gómez Monteverde, Patrick Million, Leo Severino
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Production Co: The One Media, Metanoia Films, Burnside Entertainment , Mpower Pictures, Bella Production
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Elements|Brief Disturbing Images)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 26, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 7, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.1M
Runtime: 1h 31m

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