7/10
A bit of a sad-ending throwback
14 April 2023
This film deals with a pair of gay students in Columbia who are attending a private school with an autocratic administration. The main characters students also have absentee or largely unsupportive parents. Given the level of repression, the unchecked bullying and the raging hormones, this is a recipe for disaster and the film has a higher body count than movies of this type.

When I was first coming out and coming to terms with my sexual identify, I found a lot of good in Spanish films. El Diputado, Colegas, El Sacerdote, Law of Desire to name but a few. In later years we've seen Strawberry & Chocolate , Burnt Money, Y tu mamá también, and The Way He Looks,

In many ways they are ALL more advanced than this film. Yes, the setting is Colombia in South America and it seems WAY more repressed than most Hispanic countries.

The boys are cute enough and the story doesn't dwell in the dismal aspects of this culture but it's certainly NOT the hopeful optimistic brand of gay film that I've come to expect these days.

According to the after credits the Colombian government ordered a change to school rules nationwide that recognized differences in sexual orientation So I'm a bit unclear what a film like this released in 2017 was trying to accomplish except perhaps the exorcising of some old demons.

If you have a special interest in Colombia and want to see an autocratic school system with very few real civil liberties, then this may well, be your film. If you're up for something lighter and want something in Spanish may I suggest the latest season of Elite?
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