Chica Checa is a 2026 comedy-drama film written and directed by Šimon Holý. Starring Pavla Tomicová, Jan Cina, Alexandra Borbély and Erwan Kepoa Falé the film follows Zdena, widowed village postwoman, who is trying to fulfill the last wish of her ailing mother. A series of unexpected events brings her closer to her drag queen son Lukáš.
Zdena lives a quiet but difficult life in a small Czech village, caring for her dying mother while staying connected to her son Lukáš, who claims to be thriving in France. When Věra's final wish prompts Zdena to beg Lukáš to return home, his visit exposes his hidden life as Chico Checo and forces both mother and son to confront long-buried truths. As identities unravel, Zdena begins to imagine a future beyond the limits of her rural routine.
The shooting for the film was wrapped in October 2024.
In October 2025, the film was selected in works in progress for Warsaw Co-Production Forum which took place on 16 October as part of Warsaw Industry Days, during the 41st Warsaw Film Festival at Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw. It was showcased along with 4 other projects.
The film will be theatrically released in Czech Republic on 20 August 2026 by Falcon a.s..
The film was shortlisted for Czech submission for the 99th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.
Reception
Writing for Cineuropa, Martin Kudláč described the film as a warm and humanistic family drama that explores acceptance, grief and personal renewal through the evolving relationship between a mother and her son. Kudláč observed that, despite its accessible and occasionally humorous storytelling, the film is "far from a rambunctious comedy". He opined that the film is less concerned with Lukáš's queer identity than with Zdena's growing ability to accept her son while rediscovering purpose in her own life. Kudláč praised Holý's restrained direction, noting that the rural setting avoids turning queer identity into a source of public conflict and instead keeps the drama focused on the characters' private emotional lives. He highlighted Pavla Tomicová's "quietly expressive performance" as the emotional anchor of the film and concluded that Chica Checa is a "touching, hopeful portrait" of a woman learning to see both her son and herself from a new perspective.
