José lives with his mother in Guatemala: a tough life in one of the world's most dangerous, religious, and impoverished countries. José is her youngest and favorite child, and her life is going to church and selling sandwiches. He spends his days on crowded buses and in the streets delivering food. Resigned and aloof, in free moments he plays with his phone and looks for random sex. When he meets Luis, José is thrust into a dimension of passion and pain and self-reflection that was previously unimaginable.
Acting
Salanic's face does entire monologues without speaking.
Cinematography
Guatemala City as suffocating character, all gray concrete.
Direction
Cheng lets scenes breathe until you can't breathe.
Director
Li Cheng
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
First Guatemalan film selected for Venice Film Festival; faced local backlash for explicit queer content in a country where 65% identify as Catholic.
Lead actor Enrique Salanic was a complete unknown discovered via Facebook casting call; never acted before this role.
GT
