Overview
A poignant exploration of survival and friendship amidst the harsh realities of street life.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- harrowing
- bleak
- intimate
- serious film night
- social justice cinema programming
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Mónica sells flowers at night while Andrea flees domestic violence and joins the street economy.
The film is associated with Víctor Gaviria’s raw, street-level approach and features performers drawn from marginalized communities.
The central characters are young girls confronting beatings, poverty, danger, and adult criminal environments.
Mónica’s flower selling takes place around local nightspots where children work among couples and dangerous adults.
Films like The Rose Seller, and why
Pixote
shared social realism, child-centered poverty, and bleak urban marginality
The 400 Blows
shared neorealist attention to impoverished children, street life, and institutional neglect
City of God
shared raw documentary-influenced realism, marginalized youth, and harrowing coming-of-age themes
Nobody Knows
shared intimate portrait of vulnerable children navigating poverty and abuse
Movie Details
- Director
- Víctor Gaviria
- Release Date
- 1998-05-13
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Rating
- 7.9 / 10 (156)
Cast
- Lady Tabares
- Marta Correa
- Mileider Gil
- Diana Murillo
- Liliana Giraldo
- Yuli García
- Giovanni Quiroz
- Álex Bedoya
- Elkin Vargas
- John Fredy Ríos
Common questions
- What is The Rose Seller about?
- A devastating Colombian street drama follows two vulnerable girls struggling to survive amid poverty, abuse, and nighttime danger.
- What is The Rose Seller like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Rose Seller as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Rose Seller violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Rose Seller as moderate.
- Which films are like The Rose Seller?
- Films with a similar feel include Pixote, The 400 Blows, City of God, and Nobody Knows.
- How long is The Rose Seller?
- The Rose Seller runs 115 minutes.
