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 ...
Teenage Ernesto wanders the streets of Rome, searching for his true identity as he comes to grips with friendships, relationships and the meaning of life. Along the way, shown in multiple chapters, he meets various people who sometimes become his sexual partners, male or female, he never thinks or stops himself from experimenting. Ernesto’s experiences help him to grow and understand that life is full of ups and downs and through his sexual relationships.
Yes, the story is that basic. More than a film, it feels like you are watching a teenager go through his life. Almost 50% of the film has absolutely no dialogues and you are left to interpret what's going on in the film. The only reason I am reviewing the film here is because Ernesto is free and open to any and every experience, which sees him explore his potential bisexuality as he hops into bed with men and women over the course of his wanderings. But lack of dialogues doesn't gives you a strong narrative or connect with the characters and even the sexual scenes aren't exciting enough for you to sit through this. The only positive about the film is the lead actor. My god, he has charisma and is gorgeous and that smile. His carefree attitude who just enjoys being with the person that he is with suits him very well. He plays the character wide-eyed, as he literally falls from one situation into the next seemingly with little thought to what he’s doing and why he’s doing it. But that's that. As a film, I haven't figured out what the film was trying to say or why should anyone watch the film. (2.5/10)
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