Tuesday, June 25, 6:30 pm, Castro Theatre
Centerpiece/World Cinema
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| Temblores (Tremors): Pablo (L) and Francisco |
Temblores is a very well crafted film, well written, well acted, and emotionally affecting. Just be aware that it’s a very dark film, very much a counterweight to the “feel good, happy ending” coming out stories that are perennial festival favorites. The family’s attempts to “convert” the protagonist Pablo back to heterosexuality, get pretty heavy. If the words “adult conversion therapy” are a trigger for you, this is not your film. Highly recommended, with reservations.
Note that the star, Juan Pablo Olyslager (left in photo), is expected to attend the screening.
When confident, sophisticated Pablo (Juan Pablo Olyslager) announces that he intends to leave his wife and children to be with Francisco (Mauricio Armas), the man he has been secretly in love with for years, the revelation rips his affluent evangelical family in conservative Guatemala apart. Soon his parents, wife, employer, pastor, and, it seems, his whole world form a powerful coalition bent on reforming, “converting,” or destroying the errant man. Convinced of his right to define himself both as a man and a father, Pablo escapes to the tender embrace of down-to-earth Francisco and their city’s gay bubble—but their refuge may not withstand the storm.
Jayro Bustamante‘s extraordinary follow-up to his award-winning debut Ixcanul, Temblores (Tremors) is both one man’s wrenching story and also a dramatic commentary on the impact that religious and social prejudice can still wreak on queer lives. The moody, powerful sound design and atmospheric cinematography combine beautifully to create a chilling portrait, anchored by Olyslager’s harrowed, riveting central performance.
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