Mosquita y Mari

First-time writer-director Aurora Guerrero beautifully captures the fluctuating dynamics of friendship between 15-year-old girls in Mosquita y Mari.

Guerrero's attitude toward the teenagers - understanding and affectionate, without being cloying - is what holds your interest.

Most of what transpires between the two girls feels as internal as something you only keep to yourself.

A tender and personal look into a first-crush, filmmaker Aurora Guerrero is impressive in her first feature outing.

This lovely, low-key debut from Aurora Guerrero doesn't aim to make any grand statements. It doesn't need to. The sweetness and sincerity Guerrero and her leads infuse into their intimate coming-of-age story is more than enough.

Despite occasional lapses into showy expressionistic slo-mo, Guerrero's direction demonstrates a patience and attention to emotional detail that allows the two young leads' performances to develop naturally.

Guerrero's handling of the bond between these two teens feels too coy by half; the film thankfully resists being either a typical coming-out movie or an ethnocultural curio, but it doesn't offer much insight into the twosome's attraction, platonic or otherwise, to each other.