The Meltdown

The Meltdown (2026)



El deshielo

6.0 2026 110 min Chile, Mexico, Spain, United States of America

Director: Manuela Martelli

Cast: Maya O’Rourke, Saskia Rosendahl, Maia Domagala, Jakub Gierszał, Paulina Urrutia

Drama
1992, Chile. With her parents away on business, young Inés stays with her grandparents at their hotel nestled at the base of a ski resort. She quickly bonds with Hanna, a European skier training in the Chilean mountains. When Hanna vanishes without a trace one evening, the desperate search that follows begins to peel back layers of dark secrets buried beneath the snow.

More About This Film

The Meltdown is a Chilean mystery drama set in 1992, shortly after the end of the country's dictatorship. Nine-year-old Inés is staying with her grandparents at a remote mountain hotel near an Andean ski resort when she befriends Hanna, a teenage German skier.

When Hanna disappears, the search exposes secrets that connect the isolated hotel community with the country's unsettled recent history. Manuela Martelli builds the mystery through a child's perspective, allowing the disappearance to become both a personal investigation and a wider reflection on memory, silence and the legacy of dictatorship.

  • Written and directed by Manuela Martelli.
  • The original Spanish title is El deshielo.
  • It was selected for Un Certain Regard at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
  • The film was submitted by Chile for the 99th Academy Awards.
  • It is the second part of Martelli's planned trilogy about Chile's recent history.

Where to Watch

The Meltdown has entered European theatrical distribution, with digital availability developing market by market.