Lorenzo (Angelo Mutti Spinetta ) is a shy geeky teenager who much prefers to keep his nose buried in a book than be out playing sports with his classmate. He lives with his younger sibling in their family home in a remote part of Patagonia which they had moved too some years ago from Buenos Aires. His father still remains in touch with his old friends back in the city and when one of them asks if he would take in his son for a while, he doesn’t hesitate. The vague reason is that he has been involved in an accident, which we later discover is a euphemism for a much scarier scenario.
Caito (Lautaro Rodríguez ) is only one year older than Lorenzo, but the two couldn’t be more different. He’s a tough kid used to fast pace of city street life and all the drama that comes with having a drug dealer for a father. Lorenzo is cold towards him at first but very intrigued and so when his father asks him to keep an eye on him, he takes the request very seriously.
As the two young men gradually start to bond, Caito finally opens up and confesses to Lorenzo as to why he was really sent away from the city. It’s a secret that he agrees not share with anyone, and instinctively makes him more protective of Caito and defends him when his parents chastise him for independently going his own way.
At the same time, Lorenzo is fighting a growing awareness of his own sexuality and so takes advantage of the fact that one of his female classmates has the hots for him, to lose his virginity. It simply confirms to him that this is not for him and that he must come to terms with the fact the feelings he has developed for his new best friend are sexual too. The problem is that he cannot gauge at all if they are reciprocated in any way at all.
My Best Friend is the very impressive feature film debut of Argentinean writer/director Martín Deus and is a wonderfully fresh look at the whole coming-of-age scenario. His two leads are well-rounded intriguing characters that somehow do not fit into the stereotypical roles of a young gay unrequited love story. It gives his two very talented actors, and in particular Spinetta, a perfect canvas on which to give some beautifully nuanced performances.
Argentina increasingly becoming a very important resource for such excellent LGBT movies, and Dues film is another one to add to the list. We are also intrigued to discover what he follows it up with too.
Labels: 2018, Argentinian, coming of age, drama
