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 ...
The story is set in 1989 (not sure why). Boaz is a very charming and beautiful young man who lives with his girlfriend Noa. He is a student at the university of Tel Aviv studying linguistics. He goes to the post office to check status of his scholarship but instead one day sees a letter from a secret admirer. The letters keep coming with more and more details about Boaz's life which makes him realize that the person is somewhere close to his everyday life. His thoughts are consumed with finding out who it could possibly be. Especially as he knows the letters are from a man. Paranoia takes over when everyone he meets becomes a possible suspect of the daily correspondence. Boaz has history in military, during one of the evenings he kisses a man whom I think he had a crush on and the guy knew it. Deep down, he desperately hopes that the letters are from him; and during the sleepless nights in Israel, he stays up and fantasies about leaving everything behind and running off with his adolescent crush. But the letters start taking a toll on the life of Boaz and Noa. The once very much in love couple barely talk to each other. Noa one day reads letters and figures out the reason for stress but Boaz never brings it up to her because he is very confused about his sexuality and what he wants from life. When another letter appears saying that Boaz’s admirer is finally going to reveal himself, she is terrified at what this could mean. She knows who the letters are from and she confronts the man. Ultimately Boaz has to take an action to find out what he really wants and make decision because he has to move on with his life.
This film is a very strong exploration of obsession and sexuality. There are so many nuances in the film, you feel very connected to the characters. You feel you know exactly what Noa and Boaz are thinking, who by the way, both are excellent performers and their chemistry is amazing. When the truth comes out about the guy, it is shocking because you could have never guessed who the letters were from but it al makes sense. There is a lot that is said through background music and eyes, which just adds to the overall beauty and tension in the film. The fact that Boaz looks absolutely delicious just adds to the film and there are more than handful scenes where we see him almost naked. SO there is a lot of eye candy. My favorite thing about the film is that Boaz feels very human. I can see a lot of people not knowing how to react in such situations and really struggling which in turn will effect their everyday lives.
A refreshing film with focus on the two characters whose life is in turmoil because of a secret admirer looking from 2 different angles. A compelling and reflective experience. (7.5/10)
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