This is your typical indie coming-of-age tale about a teenager, though it’s clearly working with a very tiny budget. Set within a migrant family living in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, the movie digs into how fragile old-school traditions and expectations can be. We follow a teenage son as he goes through the process of coming out and struggles to find acceptance while dealing with homophobia, domestic abuse, and a messy love triangle that involves his own sister. Goyo is seventeen and just about to graduate from high school. Since he’s been a bit more feminine since he was a little kid, he’s always had to deal with emotional and physical transition from his dad, Ramon, who is obsessed with him being "a man." The only real love he gets is from a lady next door who actually respects him for who he is. The family lives in a Mexican community where everyone works on a grape farm, but things get shaken up when a new guy named Lucio arrives. Lucio basically seduces Goyo ...
Sometimes the simplest of the movies touch your heart. A simple story, natural (or maybe not) acting, a relationship based on pure love and emotions; his is what summarizes this movie for me. Kyle and Jake are high school best buddies growing up in Arizona. They fooled around one night but even then they thought they liked each other but feared what people would say. They are getting together for what appears to be a regular night of “sleeping out” in the desert. The pangs, ache and longing of first love are evident in these two beautiful young men. They eat some supper and then curl up on blankets for an evening of necking in the back of Kyle’s old pickup truck. But we realize that Jake is moving out of the small town to the big city. 15 years later, we see Jake is doing very good for himself in the movie business but still cannot his buddy Kyle whom he hasn't seen forever. He decided to take a break from city life and visit his old town back. After an awkward initial introductions, the friends are back together. The two now-grown men reconnect and the spark is still there. Kyle is in the closet with his gay desires, but all of his feelings spill to the surface as he and his old friend get to know each other better. Against all odds finally they confess their love for each other and decide to live with each other in the small town.
If not for a couple of very beautifully executed sequences, this movie would have fallen flat. The chemistry and awkwardness that you see between the 2 men when they meet after 15 years is so evident as is the spark. My favorite is the scene when Jake confesses his love for Kyle. Oh! that touched my heart Wonderful piece of acting. Also the conversation between Kyle and his aunt is touching. The scene where Jake helps one of Kyle's friends is also good showing us what a nice guy Jake is. Of course he is very handsome too.
Just for that one scene, my ratings for the film went up. A slow film but def worth watch for love. (7/10)
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