Most people know the title before they know the name. A Fantastic Woman won the Oscar for best foreign language film at the 2018 ceremony, and the man who directed it, Sebastián Lelio, died last Friday in Santiago at 52. He was in the middle of shooting his tenth feature.
His family has said very little, and I’m going to respect that. Below I lay out what is confirmed and what isn’t, what is known about the film he left unfinished, and the order in which I would watch his movies. Then I give you my own read, clearly marked as mine, on the thread that runs through all of them.
What is confirmed, and what still isn’t
The core facts match across the Associated Press, TheWrap, EFE and the Buenos Aires Herald. I’ve put them next to the questions nobody has answered, because the second column matters as much as the first.
Confirmed
- WhoSebastián Lelio, born March 8, 1974, in Mendoza, Argentina. He moved to Chile at age 2 and later studied at the Chilean Film School, after a year of journalism.
- When and whereFriday, Nov. 6, 2026, at his home in Santiago. He was 52.
- The announcementHis family posted it on Instagram the same day, citing health reasons, and asked for privacy. TheWrap reports it was shared by his partner, Amalia Kassai.
- The industry’s responseSony Pictures Classics, which released A Fantastic Woman in the U.S., called him a singular filmmaker whose work kept evolving.
Not known
- Cause of deathThe family cited “health complications” and named none. Several sites are running “how did he die” headlines; none of the reports I read goes further, so I’m not adding a guess.
- Chilean PoetNo decision on whether the film will be finished, shelved or released as shot has been reported.
- VoyagersTheWrap listed it among his upcoming projects, with Andrew Garfield as Carl Sagan and Daisy Edgar-Jones as Ann Druyan. I found no report on what happens to it.
The unfinished tenth film
Chilean Poet (Poeta chileno) adapts Alejandro Zambra’s 2020 novel, and it would have been Lelio’s tenth feature. Shooting began in Santiago in late September, and local outlet The Clinic published first images from a bookstore set on Oct. 24, about two weeks before he died.
- Based on
- Poeta chileno, the 2020 novel by Alejandro Zambra
- Would have been
- Lelio’s tenth feature
- Shooting began
- Late September 2026, in Santiago
- Production
- Fábula. T13, citing the outlet Culto, reports a partnership with Amazon MGM Studios.
- Leads
- Felipe Zepeda and Clemente Rodríguez, according to The Clinic
- Status
- No decision on completion has been reported
Here is my take, and it is only a take. Whoever decides what happens next is facing something bigger than a scheduling problem. A film like this is built out of one person’s eye: where the camera waits, how long a scene is allowed to sit. Finishing it means someone else making those calls on his behalf. Shelving it means a half-built film nobody sees. I don’t think there’s a clean answer, and I’d rather the people who worked beside him get the time to find theirs than have the rest of us demand one.
Five films, one question
I went back through the coverage of his career this week, and one thing kept surfacing in how critics described his best-known films: a woman is told, one way or another, that she doesn’t belong where she is standing. Here is how each film frames that. This is my reading, not something Lelio ever put in these words.
- Gloria2013
A divorcée in her late 50s starts dating again and refuses to apologize for wanting a life of her own. Paulina García won the Silver Bear for best actress at Berlin for the role. Lelio later remade it in English as Gloria Bell, with Julianne Moore, so I count the two as one idea.
The roomthe dance floor
- A Fantastic Woman2017
Marina, a young transgender waitress and aspiring singer, loses her older boyfriend and has to defend her right to take part in the mourning.
The roomthe funeral
- Disobedience2017
Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams play two women facing desire and expectation inside an Orthodox Jewish community.
The roomthe community itself
- The Wonder2022
Florence Pugh plays a nurse hired to look into the case of a girl in 19th-century Ireland who claims to have gone months without eating. The film is about faith and what a community will do to enforce conformity.
The roomthe village’s version of the truth
- The Wave2025
A musical inspired by the feminist student mobilizations that swept Chilean universities in 2018, about harassment, abuse and the fight to change power structures.
The roomthe institution
Put them side by side and I think the pattern is hard to miss. Gloria wants to stay on the dance floor. Marina wants to stand at a funeral. The nurse wants to be believed. The students want the university to change. It is hard not to notice that the country he left is now mourning in public, with the government decreeing two days of it, for a filmmaker whose most famous character had to fight for her right to do exactly that.
Why a country stopped for two days
EFE reports that Chile’s government decreed two days of national mourning. The reason is partly arithmetic. A Fantastic Woman made Lelio the first Chilean to win the Oscar for best international feature, and the Associated Press notes it was only Chile’s second Academy Award, after the animated short Bear Story in 2016. Before the Oscar, the film took the Silver Bear for best screenplay and the Teddy Award for best feature at the 2017 Berlin festival.
His last finished film is also back in the conversation. The Wave (La ola) premiered out of competition at Cannes in 2025 and is nominated for eight Pedro Sienna awards, Chile’s main film prizes. EFE reports it took seven years to develop with a mostly female team, pairing British composer Matthew Herbert with 17 Chilean women composers, and that the Spanish platform Filmin moved its release up to Nov. 12 after his death. I did not confirm a U.S. streaming date.
My watch order: where to start with Lelio
If you have never seen his work, this is the order I would suggest. It’s a ranking by entry point, not by quality: it’s how I’d sequence them for a first-timer. Availability changes by country and by week, so check your own apps.
- 1Gloria (2013)Start here
It’s his most direct film: one woman, one city, one very large question. García’s Silver Bear tells you how well it works. If you’d rather watch in English, Gloria Bell tells the same story with Julianne Moore.
- 2A Fantastic Woman (2017)The one that made history
Watch it second, because it asks a similar question louder, with Daniela Vega in the lead. It’s the film that won the Oscar.
- 3The Wonder (2022)The easiest door if you want a star
A period mystery made for Netflix, with Florence Pugh. A good pick if the first two sound too quiet for your Friday night.
- 4Disobedience (2017)For romance and drama fans
Weisz and McAdams carry it, and it shows how he worked in English before The Wonder.
- 5The Wave (2025)The last finished film
His biggest swing and the most unusual, a musical about protest. I’d save it for last because it rewards knowing what he did before it.
Chilean Poet is not on the list because it isn’t finished.
Questions people are searching for
How old was Sebastián Lelio when he died?
He was 52. He was born on March 8, 1974, in Mendoza, Argentina, and moved to Chile at age 2.
What was Sebastián Lelio’s cause of death?
None has been given. His family said he died following health complications and did not name one.
When and where did Sebastián Lelio die?
He died on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, at his home in Santiago, Chile. His family announced it the same day.
What movie did Sebastián Lelio win an Oscar for?
A Fantastic Woman, which won the Oscar for best foreign language film (now best international feature) at the 2018 ceremony.
What was Sebastián Lelio working on when he died?
Chilean Poet (Poeta chileno), an adaptation of Alejandro Zambra’s 2020 novel. It would have been his tenth feature, and shooting began in Santiago in late September. No decision on the film has been reported.
Which Sebastián Lelio movie should I watch first?
My pick is Gloria (2013), his most direct film. If you prefer English, Gloria Bell is his own remake with Julianne Moore. After that, watch A Fantastic Woman.
Where can I watch The Wave, his last finished film?
The Wave (La ola) premiered at Cannes in 2025, and the Spanish platform Filmin moved its release up to Nov. 12. I did not confirm where it streams in the U.S., so check your own apps.
I think his legacy is two things at once. The first is a set of films that gave unusually full lives to women the movies usually leave at the edge of the frame. The second, which I find more moving this week, is how often those films were about a basic human claim: the right to be present at your own life, and at the moments that matter. If you only have one evening, watch Gloria. If you have two, add A Fantastic Woman. And if you have ever been told to take up less space, notice how rarely his movies let that instruction stand.
