Queerguru’s Ris Fatah reviews Maspalomas, an interesting character study about what happens when an older man goes back into the closet.

Vicente (Jose Ramon Soroiz) is having the time of his life. Newly single after a twenty-five-year relationship, the penniless seventy-five-year-old gay man has moved to Maspalomas, staying with a friend in the hedonistic queer enclave in Gran Canaria, Spain. There, by day he hangs out on the beach and cruises in the dunes, and at night parties in the infamous Yumbo Centre, making the most of its sex positivity. One night, disaster strikes when he suffers a stroke whilst out partying, and his world crashes down around him. Unable to afford private rehabilitation and unwilling to look after him at home, his estranged daughter Nerea (Nagore Aranburu) arranges for him to move into a state-run care home in San Sebastian on the mainland. They haven’t spoken for twenty-five years since Vicente came out as gay at age fifty and began a relationship with Esteban, his wealthy ex, leaving his family adrift.

Vicente enters the care home a shadow of his former self. Dishevelled, in a wheelchair and partly paralysed, he is unable to do many of the simplest tasks for himself. He loses his mojo and retreats back into the closet. His room-mate Xanti (Kandido Uranga) is the opposite, bright, energetic and seemingly without any health issues. He’s pretty macho and right-wing though and this reinforces Vicente’s commitment to keep his sexuality a secret. Life in the care home is not much fun. Being back in the closet takes him back to the first fifty years of his life. Things are not looking good for Vicente. How will he navigate his life?

Directors Aitor Arregi and Jose Mari Goenaga have created a powerful character study with Maspalomas. Older gay men are rarely given such visibility on our screens and the directors dive in deep, with sex scenes, full frontal nudity and main character profiles. The result is refreshing and thought-provoking. The tough relationship between parent and child is well portrayed, and is very relatable. Soroiz is perfect at playing the contrasting sides of Vicente’s life, happily out of the closet and broken when concealing his sexuality. An important lesson in living your truest life.

8/10

 

 

Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant  (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah 

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