With neighboring Argentina’s President Javier Milei bailed out by Donald Trump as the United States continues to blow up boats of Venezuelan citizens, a shift in power in the region could make for one of the more substantial elections in Chile’s recent history. The time is ripe, therefore, for a look at Pablo Larraín’s outstanding recent(ish) movie No, which examined the inner workings of the country’s unusual transition back into democratic governance that began with the 1988 presidential referendum vote—a vote in which the people essentially voted on whether or not they should vote.

Democracy will soon once again flex its muscles in Latin America. Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s time in office is almost over due to limits on consecutive terms, and recent polling shows the top two candidates to replace him are the left-wing coalition candidate Jeannette Jara, a longtime communist, and José Antonio Kast, a right-wing hardliner making his third bid for the seat and whose father was a literal Nazi who fled Germany after World War II. (While most sensible people agree the sins of the father are not those of the son, this is quite the factoid to have on your Wikipedia page.)

Democracy will soon once again flex its muscles in Latin America. Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s time in office is almost over due to limits on consecutive terms, and recent polling shows the top two candidates to replace him are the left-wing coalition candidate Jeannette Jara,