Stay (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

In Stay, Diego’s recurring nightmares about his mother’s death begin to feel less like dreams and more like memories. As his understanding of reality shifts, he faces an impossible choice: remain with his mother in one reality or return to another where she is gone.

Stay is an 18-minute Spanish-language drama centered on grief, family and the uncertain boundary between dreams and memory. The film follows Diego after disturbing nightmares about his mother begin to challenge his understanding of what is real.

Directed and co-written by Jesús Manuel González Miranda, the Mexican short film presents its central conflict through a deeply personal choice: holding on to an apparent reality or accepting the loss embedded in another one.

Stay movie details

Story without spoilers

Diego repeatedly dreams that his mother dies, but the nightmares gradually take on a different meaning. When he realizes they may actually be memories, his confidence in his present reality begins to fracture.

The story then turns on Diego’s emotional dilemma. He must determine whether to remain with his mother in the reality he is experiencing or return to a reality in which she no longer exists. The premise places grief and family at the center while keeping the film’s larger questions deliberately focused on Diego’s perspective.

What to expect

Stay is a short drama with a speculative premise and an intimate emotional focus. Its 18-minute runtime suggests a compact narrative built around Diego’s changing perception and the difficult choice at the heart of the story.

The supplied themes include grief, family and death, while the tagline—“To save her, he must lose her.”—underscores the film’s tension between attachment and acceptance. As a Spanish-language production from Mexico, it also carries a clear national and linguistic identity.

Cast and creative team

Daniel Aranzubia plays Diego, the film’s central character, while Adriana Burgos appears as Mamá. Mariano Riva Palacio provides the voice for a report, and Lydia Guadalupe González provides the cellphone voice.

Jesús Manuel González Miranda directed Stay and co-wrote it with Hae Jin Cataño Lee.

• Daniel Aranzubia as Diego
• Adriana Burgos as Mamá
• Mariano Riva Palacio as Voz reportaje
• Lydia Guadalupe González as Voz celular

Release and production context

Stay is listed as a 2026 release with a release date of September 1, 2026. It has a runtime of 18 minutes and is classified as a drama. The film is from Mexico and is spoken in Spanish.

Its production companies are Cine Acrílico, SAE Institute and Notori (MX).

Production companies: Cine Acrílico, SAE Institute, Notori (MX)

Reported production figures:
Budget $3,000

Stay official trailer

Watch the official trailer on YouTube

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With its brief runtime and focused premise, Stay frames grief as a question of reality, memory and emotional choice. The film’s story remains centered on Diego and his mother, offering a concise dramatic setup rather than an expansive family narrative.

Film data:
TMDB · IMDb