Miami based queer filmmaker Chris Molina debut feature FALLEN FRUIT is about to have its World Premiere soon at Miami Film Festival. Like his previous short films of queer stories, the film evidently leans heavily on his own personal experiences.
This is the tale of 20-year-old openly gay Alex (Ramiro Batista) who has very reluctanty moved back to his childhood home in Miami after a bad break-up with his boyfriend in NY. He discovers his father’s old movie camera in a pile of junk and rescues it and starts filming his daily life. Sadly much of what it captures is his low-esteem self pitying life which even a quick random pick up with Chris doesnt lift his spirits or change his negative attitude,
Miami is about to face one of its regular summer hurricanes which for those of us that live here so often turns into no more than a lot of hot air and heavy rain. In this case Molina is using it as a metaphor for the ‘turbulence’ that Alex beleved he has to face and deal with if he is ever to be able to head back to the next stage his life in NY.
Batista gives a convincing performance as a troubled young man in this contemporary coming of age story, yet sadly the drama falls short of our expectations and we find our attention waning in this disappointing tale of self-imposed failure .
ROGER WALKER-DACK Creator, Editor-in-Chief Miami Beach, FL / Provincetown, MA
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Member of G.A.L.E.C.A. (Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association) and
NLGJA The Association of LGBT Journalists. and The Online Film Critics Society. Ex Contributung Editor
The Gay Uk & Contributor Edge Media Former CEO and Menswear Designer of Roger Dack Ltd in the UK