Can you remember your first proper night out as an adult? The first time you had sex? Remember how easy it was to meet people and make friends as an eighteen-year-old? Writer and director Rafael Ruiz Espejo takes us back to the heady days of our youth – not so long ago for many of our younger Queerguru readers – with the heady Mexican queer indie drama The Last First Time.

We meet Eduardo (Alejandro Quintana), a handsome eighteen-year-old from a small village in Jalisco. He’s on a coach on his way to Guadalajara to sit a college entrance exam. It’s his first time away from home, and he’s excited. So excited, in fact, that, following a detailed perusal of the fit local men on Grindr, he needs to go and shoot his load in the toilet of the coach. On arrival at his college, he sits his entrance exam and then bumps into the sexy Mario (Carlos E Lopez Cervantes), a popular student a couple of years older than him. After locking eyes, Mario takes Eduardo under his wing. It’s clear they fancy each other, and later Mario invites Eduardo back to his empty home. There, the two guys walk into a surprise birthday party held by Mario´s parents for him. They surrender willingly and have a fun afternoon together with Mario´s friends and family. Mario wants Eduardo to stay over for the night, but he’s under strict instructions to go straight home to his parents. A few drinks and his first-ever sexual encounter later, however, Eduardo relents and dives in for a crazy night out on the town with Mario and his crew. It´s 24 hours he’ll never forget.

Espejo has written a tale many of us can relate to, and has brought it to life in a beautifully shot, consistently sexy and highly charged manner. Quintana is perfect in the role of Eduardo. He’s an insatiable young man of few words but knows exactly what he wants to experience and nothing is going to stop him getting it. Eduardo is slightly out of his depth with Mario, and Quintana portrays that flawlessly. Cervantes is also very strong as Mario, the leader of the pack; those two years extra experience at that age mean a lot. The supporting cast of friends, guys in drag, and club kids complement the two boys perfectly with their looks and banter. The sex is clumsy, tender, and well portrayed. Their drunken, wild (but sweetly not too wild), youthful, labyrinth night out without frontiers or real consequences is honest and realistic. It´s a great reminder that when things go wrong at that age, it doesn’t really matter. It´s also a lesson in ignoring your parents when they don’t have your best interests at heart.

A sexy, boundless coming-of-age tale, free of baggage and full of youthful life and energy.