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 ...
Film starts with Jesse, a 20-something gay artist who is moving from San Francisco back to his hometown in Ohio. He’s broke, recently broke up with his boyfriend and in an artistic rut, and needs a change. He’s searching for something and it becomes clear that he’s not even sure what that is – his father’s love and approval, artistic vision and motivation, financial security or just love and friendship. Keith, his neighbor and fellow artist is his closest confidence who tells him what he really thinks and doesn't sugar coat things. We also meet Jesse's roommate, a bear who is dealing with his own issues with his lover who is soon to move in after Jesse moves out. And then we have Ben, Jesse's ex, who is as nervous and Jesse to meet him on his last night at his going away party and is being hit on by a guy at the cloth store and again at the party. During various interactions and silent slow individual scenes, we do realize that Jesse is actually looking for himself. He wants to know who he is or what he wants or what the hell is going on, and it’s hitting him hard.
Along with an interesting storyline, there is a lot of sex in its raw form. We see full on sex involving not just Jesse, but with Ben and his room-mate. It is almost pornography because there i soothing hidden but at the same time it involves a lot of emotion and real-ness in it. The scenes are tender, intimate and genuine unlike any porn film and is not uncomfortable to watch. we see moments of naked laughter only experienced by true lovers behind closed doors and it feels like you are eavesdropping on someone's private moments. There are a lot of silence scenes where we follow Jesse on his day trying to still figure tout what he wants to do. We feel for him. He is so lonely that he purposely misses his own going away party because he just wants to spend more time alone. We have some hilarious dialogues with the guy who hits on Jesse's ex Ben and they help to keep the film in a lighter tone at the same time. As much as people say that the nudity and sex was a total put off, I don't mind it because it is done tastefully. Jesse is a brilliant natural actor and I have high hopes from the director himself.
I definitely liked it and would recommend it. It will touch you in one way or other. (7.5/10)
Comments
Verry nice.. :)