Direction: Li Cheng
Country: Guatemala / USA
The 19-year-old José (Enrique Salanic), who provides curbside meal services working for a restaurant, experiences a special, passionate, and ultimately unfulfilled homosexual relationship in the ultra-catholic yet violent contemporary Guatemala. Tangled up in the obstructive emotional manipulation of his mother (Ana Cecilia Mota), Jose renounces to an unprecedented chance to leave the country and pursue a better life in the company of Luis (Manolo Herrera), an adventurous Caribbean migrant he fell in love with. Instead, he prolongs the tortuous path that leads to frivolous sex liaisons.
Chinese-born writer/director Li Cheng populates the film with fine establishing shots and captures the dynamics of the city with raw authenticity. On the other hand, he exaggerates the frequency of the languid, repetitive sex scenes.
The minimal script is marginally extended by a side-plot focusing on Jose’s female co-worker, Monica (Jhakelyn Gonzalez), who becomes disheartened with the outcome of her short-lived straight relationship. All is played in a controlled minor key.
Anything but commercial, and featuring a cast of non-professional actors, this portrayal of romantic disillusion still resonates with a good slice of honesty in defiance to an imperfect editing and some forgivable structural irregularities.
