The cinematography of Nostalgia de la Luz is both beautiful and purposeful. The sweeping panoramas of the Atacama Desert, with its infinite horizons, elicit sentiments of despair and majesty. Guzmán uses long, meditative takes to allow the viewer to fully appreciate the desert’s immense beauty as well as the emotional weight it bears. The use of natural light in the picture is also essential, with the harsh, merciless glare of the desert juxtaposed against the soft glow of the night sky, suggesting the search for truth and the lingering shadows of the past. A memorable scenario occurs as the women, whose loved ones were victims of the dictatorship, hunt for the bones of the missing. As they dig in the desert’s shifting sands, their peaceful determination contrasts with the harshness of the landscape, reflecting the power of memory and the unending struggle for justice. Another moving moment occurs when the scientists discuss their job studying distant galaxies, which is a metaphor for how the past, like distant stars, is often too far away to completely fathom yet stays apparent in the darkness.

The Atacama Desert scenery serves as a strong metaphor for the film’s themes of memory, truth, and the unwavering pursuit of justice. The desert’s immensity and solitude reflect the silence surrounding the victims of Chile’s dictatorship, whose stories were erased or forgotten by the state. The dry expanse, with its stark beauty, depicts the emptiness left by the missing, as well as the agony of those who continue to seek answers. The desert, one of the driest regions on Earth, represents not just physical desolation but also the mental thirst felt by the relatives of the disappeared, who are left to mourn without resolution. The landscape also plays an important part in depicting time. The vast, unchanging desert contrasts with humanity’s yearning for resolution, demonstrating how the planet preserves its secrets. The changing sand serves as a reminder that truth, like desert environment, can be buried, hidden, and difficult to uncover. However, the perseverance of people who search—whether for the remains of loved ones or the light of faraway stars—demonstrates the endurance of human memory and the urge to confront the past. In this sense, the desert becomes a place where past and present collide, personal and collective histories intersect, and the hunt for the lost continues.