Temblores

It’s a magnificently unflinching film from a master director in the making, whose thunderous strength will surely make waves in Bustamante’s Central American homeland and abroad.

There are any number of movies about gay men trying to liberate themselves from the long shadow of heteronormative oppression — a regrettably, enduringly relevant premise — but few have been told with the extraordinary nuance or compassion of Jayro Bustamante’s Tremors.

A penetrating, mournful portrait of sexual identity in contemporary Guatemala City.

This strong second feature from Guatemalan talent Jayro Bustamante doesn’t ask new questions, but its sensuous, reverberating atmospherics find fresh, angry ways to answer them.

Jayro Bustamante offers a thoughtful, emotionally-charged exploration of a devoutly religious family man torn apart by the revelation of his love for another man.

Bustamante's screenplay is a philosophically and theologically nuanced affair, intermittently elliptical, concentrating on the bigger picture without bothering to sketch in the smaller details. This becomes something of an issue, given that these are often the pivots upon which the somewhat telenovela-like plot hinges.

Bustamante renders the film’s distinct milieus with extraordinary texture. The sanitized and soulless spaces of Pablo and his family form an evocative contrast with the lively, bustling bars and streets frequented by Francisco. But this emphasis on sensory detail comes at the cost of the big picture.

I really enjoyed the movie. Great acting, writing, and a realistic life story. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’m glad I watched the movie. The critics are correct about this movie.

As a gay couple celebrating our 50th anniversary this year and having gone through parents attempts to get us in gay conversion therapy this was one of most depressing movies we've seen. So it doesn't have a happy ending which we didn't like. We thought the film was cluttered with traffic scenes, silent driving, just filler with hordes of extras and choked auto highways. Rejected by family, forced into conversion therapy and accepting it. Our meeting with a pastor who hated gays; I told his "maybe you are a flower and I'm a weed but I believe God made us both". He was stunned and said sheepishly that maybe we were both a bit of flower and weed. We wasted $5 to stream this movie. A sad deal. Feel sorry for Guatemala gays.

A **** propaganda film that glorifies promiscuous sex and immorality as something to admire. It is horribly written and directed.