Plot Explained Spoilers guaranteed!
Plot Explained

Browse by genre

Bastards y Diablos (2015) movie poster

Characters & Themes

Bastards y Diablos (2015) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
2015 · 99 mins · English
Loading streaming availability…
Directed by
A.D. Freese
Starring
J.B. Blanc, Juanita Arias, Madeline Merritt, Dillon Porter, Sebastián Eslava, Andrew Perez

Following their father’s death, two half-brothers embark on a journey through Colombia. They must fulfill his final wishes, which leads them to reconnect with their family and explore their father’s homeland. Along the way, they confront their complicated past and forge a bond with each other.

On this page (7)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Characters explained (6)
  3. 3 Where & when it takes place
  4. 4 Themes & meaning (3)
  5. 5 Character & meaning questions
  6. 6 Movie threads
  7. 7 Every angle
Loading streaming availability…

6 main characters · contains spoilers

Bastards y Diablos Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of Bastards y Diablos (2015), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Gabriel Roja (Voice)

    played by J.B. Blanc

    The father whose self-indulgent past and emotional absence cast long shadows over his sons. Through memories and the will, the film probes the complicated mix of care and neglect he offered. His life is revealed as a mosaic of longing, ambition, and self-sabotage that continues to influence Ed and Dion.

    • 🎭 Complex
    • 💔 Flawed
    • 👨 Father
  • Ed Rojas

    played by Andrew Perez

    A frat-boy type who still carries a boyish spark, Ed navigates sibling loyalty and lingering attraction while facing his father’s legacy. He brings warmth and impulsiveness to the brothers’ reunion, along with a readiness to confront uncomfortable truths. His connection to a young woman hints at unresolved longing from the past.

    • 🎯 Frat-boy
    • 🔗 Loyal
    • 👨‍👦 Brother
  • Dion Rojas

    played by Dillon Porter

    The elder by minutes, Dion moves with a worldly calm that barely masks his insecurities. He acts as a stabilizing force for his brother, but carries his own doubts about the family’s fractures. The road trip tests his patience and reveals his capacity for tenderness and protectiveness.

    • 🧭 Calm
    • 💔 Insecure
    • 👨 Brother
  • Ed's Mother

    played by Madeline Merritt

    A maternal figure witnessing the brothers’ reunion, she embodies a quiet strength that underscores the film’s themes of family resilience. Her presence anchors memory and adds emotional depth to the journey, reminding the brothers of what’s at stake for their future.

    • 🤱 Mother
    • 🛡️ Protective
    • 🧵 Resilience
  • Diana Rojas

    played by Laura Piquero

    A young woman who appears in the trip and becomes a focal point for Ed’s lingering attraction, highlighting the tensions between desire, memory, and responsibility. Diana also serves as a mirror to the past, offering moments of warmth amid the road trip’s heavier revelations.

    • ✨ Love interest
    • 🤝 Support
    • 👩 Family
  • Young Gabriel

    played by Sebastián Eslava

    A younger version of the father, portrayed in flashbacks as free-spirited and hedonistic. These scenes illuminate the roots of Gabriel’s later behavior and how his choices shaped the brothers’ lives.

    • 🔥 Youth
    • 🕊️ Recklessness
    • 👨 Father

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:17

Was this helpful?

Setting

Where and When Does Bastards y Diablos Take Place?

The setting of Bastards y Diablos (2015): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

The film moves between a present-day road trip and flashbacks to Gabriel's younger days, weaving memory with the consequences of his choices and the family's evolving relationships.

Location

Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Colombia

The journey unfolds across several Colombian cities known for their distinct flavors and histories. The stops in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cartagena, and Santa Marta anchor the narrative in a real-world map of family histories and regional contrasts. Each city reveals a facet of Gabriel's life and the relatives who shaped him, turning the trip into a moving family pilgrimage.

  • 🚗 Road trip
  • 🗺️ Colombian cities
  • 🏙️ Urban landscapes

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:17

Was this helpful?

3 major themes

Bastards y Diablos Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is Bastards y Diablos (2015) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • Family

    The road trip binds Ed and Dion as brothers who must confront their father’s failures and the distance it bred between generations. Through conversations with relatives and shared memories, they renegotiate loyalty, forgiveness, and what it means to belong to a family. The journey reframes love as a collaborative effort to move forward together rather than dwell on the past.

  • Memory

    Memories of Gabriel are fragmented and conflicting, reflected in the brothers’ tentative attempts to reconstruct him. Flashbacks reveal a man driven by longing and self-sabotage, whose actions left lasting scars. The tension between remembered myths and lived reality challenges the brothers to accept imperfect truths.

  • Legacy

    Gabriel’s life is presented as a mosaic of ambition, failure, and longing, shaping the men Ed and Dion become. The will and the journey turn into a personal pilgrimage to understand what a father’s legacy truly means. The film suggests that legacy is not a tidy inheritance but a complicated inheritance of choices.

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:17

Was this helpful?

Character & theme questions

Bastards y Diablos Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about Bastards y Diablos (2015): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

What cities do the brothers visit in Colombia?

The brothers travel through five major Colombian cities: Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cartagena, and Santa Marta. Each city serves as a waypoint in their pilgrimage, revealing different facets of their father Gabriel's life and introducing them to relatives who knew him. The journey transforms from a simple task into an emotional exploration of family history.

  • colombia road trip
  • bogota
  • medellin
  • cali
  • cartagena
  • santa marta
  • locations
Q2

Who is Gabriel Roja in the story?

Gabriel Roja is the deceased father of half-brothers Ed and Dion. Though he appears primarily through flashbacks and memories, his presence haunts the entire journey. He is portrayed as a self-indulgent, emotionally absent man whose life was shaped by longing, ambition, and self-sabotage. His complicated legacy drives the brothers' road trip and forces them to confront his failures.

  • gabriel roja
  • father
  • parent
  • absence
  • legacy
Q3

Who are Ed and Dion and what is their relationship?

Ed and Dion are Gabriel's two sons, twins with Ed being the younger by minutes. Ed is warm, impulsive, and carries a boyish charm alongside lingering insecurities. Dion is the elder, moving with a worldly calm that masks his own doubts about family fractures. The road trip tests their bond and forces them to renegotiate loyalty, forgiveness, and what it means to be brothers.

  • ed rojas
  • dion Rojas
  • brothers
  • twins
  • sibling relationship
Q4

What are the main themes in the movie?

The film explores three interconnected themes: Family, Memory, and Legacy. Family centers on the brothers' journey to confront their father's failures and renegotiate their own bond. Memory deals with the fragmented, conflicting views of Gabriel that the brothers must reconcile. Legacy examines what a father truly leaves behind, not material inheritance, but a complicated mosaic of choices that shape his sons.

  • family
  • memory
  • legacy
  • themes
  • forgiveness
  • belonging
Q5

Why is the road trip important to the story?

The road trip is the structural backbone that transforms the brothers from estranged relatives into allies. Traveling through Gabriel's homeland forces Ed and Dion to confront painful truths about their father while discovering shared history with relatives they never knew. The physical journey mirrors their emotional journey toward acceptance and connection.

  • road trip
  • journey
  • pilgrimage
  • columbia
  • emotional journey
Q6

What does the movie say about legacy?

The film suggests that legacy is not a tidy inheritance but a complicated mosaic of a parent's choices. Gabriel's will and the journey itself become a pilgrimage for his sons to understand that a father's legacy lives in the emotional impact of his actions, or absence. The brothers must accept that they cannot neatly define their father, but can choose how to move forward together.

  • legacy
  • inheritance
  • fatherhood
  • choices
  • meaning
Q7

How does the movie handle memory and the father's past?

Memories of Gabriel are presented as fragmented and conflicting, reflected in the brothers' attempts to reconstruct him through relatives and flashbacks. Young Gabriel appears as a free-spirited, hedonistic figure in flashbacks, showing how his early choices shaped the man who abandoned his sons. The tension between myth and reality challenges Ed and Dion to accept imperfect truths about their father.

  • memory
  • flashbacks
  • father
  • past
  • young gabriel
  • reconstruction
Q8

Who is Diana Rojas and what is her role?

Diana Rojas is a young woman the brothers encounter during their trip. She becomes a focal point for Ed's lingering attraction, which hints at unresolved longing from his past. Diana serves as a mirror to the brothers' emotional journey, offering moments of warmth amid the heavier revelations about their father.

  • diana rojas
  • love interest
  • attraction
  • ed
Q9

What is Ed's mother like in the story?

Ed's Mother appears as a maternal figure who witnesses the brothers' reunion. She embodies quiet strength that underscores the film's themes of family resilience. Her presence anchors memory and adds emotional depth to the journey, reminding Ed and Dion of what they're fighting for, connection and a future together.

  • ed's mother
  • maternal figure
  • family
  • resilience
Q10

When is the movie set?

The film takes place in the present day during a road trip, interspersed with flashbacks to Gabriel's younger days. While no specific year is given, the modern setting is implied through contemporary locations and the road trip format. The juxtaposition of present-day journey with past memories creates the film's emotional depth.

  • time period
  • present day
  • flashbacks
  • timeline

Movie threads

More Movies Like Bastards y Diablos, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Bastards y Diablos tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies about brothers and fatherly legacies like Bastards y Diablos

Two estranged siblings reconnect on a road trip shaped by a father's complex past. For viewers who liked the reflective journey in Bastards y Diablos, discover other movies like it that explore the bittersweet bond between brothers or siblings. These films often feature a road trip structure, a focus on family legacy and grief, and a moderate, character-driven emotional weight similar to this story.

  • bittersweet
  • reflective
  • nostalgic
  • melancholic
  • warm
  • introspective
  • Tone: bittersweet, reflective
  • Pacing: steady, journey-driven
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories in this thread typically begin with a catalyst—often a death or family obligation—that forces estranged siblings together. The plot unfolds as a literal or figurative journey, where travel to significant locations prompts conversations and flashbacks. This structure allows characters to gradually confront a parent's flawed legacy, leading to a resolution that acknowledges past pain while offering tentative hope for their own relationship.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on brotherhood tested by family history. They share a bittersweet tone, a steady, journey-based pacing, and a medium emotional intensity that comes from exploring grief and reconciliation without melodrama.

Reflective road trip movies similar to Bastards y Diablos

Journeys where the destination is less important than the emotional revelations along the way. If you enjoyed the introspective journey through Colombia in Bastards y Diablos, you'll find more similar movies here. These films feature a steady-paced road trip as a vehicle for self-discovery, dealing with themes like grief, family, and personal history, all with a melancholic and bittersweet feel.

  • introspective
  • melancholic
  • journey
  • self-discovery
  • contemplative
  • nostalgic
  • Tone: melancholic, introspective
  • Pacing: steady, contemplative
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern involves characters leaving their ordinary lives to fulfill a specific, often posthumous, request or to escape a personal crisis. The road itself becomes a character, presenting challenges and encounters that force introspection. The plot is less about action and more about the gradual unfolding of emotional truths, leading to a changed perspective rather than a purely happy ending.

Why they belong together: These films are united by their use of the road trip motif to explore internal landscapes. They share a melancholic, reflective mood, a steady pacing that allows the audience to sit with the characters' emotions, and a moderate complexity as past and present intertwine.

Every angle

Bastards y Diablos (2015) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Bastards y Diablos in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

Coming soon on iOS and Android

The Plot Explained Movie Summary App

Plot summaries, endings explained and timelines on your phone. Catch up on any movie in minutes, save your favorites and never miss a twist again.

Be the first to know when we launch. Your email stays private, always.

Learn more about the app