Three Months

Great comedy, with an emotional realistic plot, great acting, fresh teen vision, and comfortingly good queer representation!!

I absolutely loved this movie, I felt connected to the characters while watching, the first half hour I didn't even want to think of finishing it, i was felling confortable so I did not want to say goodbye even though i had just meet them. I get happy, angry, sad, anxious and frustrated all in the 1 hour and 40 something minutes, for me a good movie needs to give you a different amount of emotions, a good movie will get you so into it, that the characters emotions will be yours, Three Months for sure did that to me.

As a queer young person myself, it feels great to have this kind of films to watch, not a single toxic stereotype, lots of inside jokes for the community, and a sweat but realistic love story! I loved the chemistry of the main couple, it didn't feel forced at all, Estha is akward and literal, Caleb is sarcastic and "cool", making them opposites, but even with their completely different contexts they're going through the same complicated situation so they conect at the first sight, stills nothing happens between them too early, their relationship grows in a time that feels correct, of course they like each other since the first day, but it wouldn't feel natural if they just confessed their love instantly. The movie don't try to sell you a perfect summer romance, but it does not give you a "bad guy" for their story either, you understand why they both acted in the way they did, even if you pic a side, 'cause sadly being gay is not easy for everyone.

I was really excited to watch this movie since i heard about it, i know Troye Sivan and i know his projects don't disappoint, he's got an strong concept and vision, you can see it as listening his songs and watching his music videos, he has basically been famous forever, young wolverine on X-Man, YouTuber, and now a pop star who's catching his actor self again, ever since he started being a celebrity he has done justice for the gay content, always bringing this kinds of topics to his audience, talking 'bout AIDS since his 2013 youtube era, doing a whole trilogy of music videos about not being accepted for being gay on 2015/6, and much more. It just make sense to see him in this film, he is not a radom famous singer they choose cause his image will bring lots of money. So please don't look this movie as less cause a pop star play the protagonist, he has being an actor for long, even if its not the focus of his career, he is involved in the topic too! He is a great actor, Caleb is funny, he also feels relatable, young and fresh. And if you're not familiar with Troye's music or him as a person, I definitely invite you to watch some of his content, he is worth it.

I gave this movie a 9 and not a 10 cause the ending did not gave everything i would like it to give, it catch me wishing for more, i would not say "bad" but I didn't feel it as strong or as "wow!" enough for the topic of the movie.

I didn't expect much going into this movie but I guess I didn't realise the brilliance right away. Seriously, I did not know it was going to be such a heavy storyline! The conflict, the characters, the dialogue- you can really tell there was a lot of effort put into it. And Troye Sivan really puts the pro in protagonist. I was so amazed by the second half because of how light it started off. Amazing writing and perfect actors. I wish this movie was more popular- it is the most beautiful, powerful, YA film I've seen in a long time. I hope it reaches today's youth. A magical, lovely movie, overall.

Content

Premise: A boy finds out that his one night stand is HIV positive, and his test result comes out in three months. 'Three months' documents his daily life and emotional state of those three months. When I read the plot summary, my first thought was 'is this gonna be another tear-jerker soap opera?'. It's my personal analysis, and it may be wrong; however, LGBQ awareness movies tend to be emotional, melancholy, and grey. 'Three months' does not scream the message, but it's still strong and powerful. The movie is not preachy about HIV awareness or does not describe Caleb as a sad misunderstood teenager.

Form

This is all possible because of how director Frieder chooses to tell the story in a composed way. There are not many scenes showing emotions of characters too directly. The lines are witty and short, and they do not overdo it. Writers really keep it simple but genuine and honest. It hits harder after the movie than during the movie. Emotions linger and resonate like afterglow. Photography, colors, and editing are very modern and young. Summery pictures and pastel colors allude to Florida and youth. Sivan's acting is something. He's so sincere that Caleb feels like a real person. I'm not sure he's a skilled actor, but I could tell that Sivan is telling his story in the movie.

Overall, quite a pleasant movie and refreshing for the subject matter it covers, to a fault almost. It's nice to see a movie about HIV that isn't all doom and gloom - at the same time, the film feels weirdly low-stakes as it tends to undercut any narrative tension by always trying to downplay the seriousness. The film's central theme - waiting - isn't a very dynamic action, and so the movie just kind of plods along, from scene to scene. Some supporting characters feel underdeveloped, and so some of the dramatic moments later in the film feel unearned. As a comedy, however, it works well - no particularly outrageous scenes, just a steady stream of chuckles. The central love story is lovely, with some nice chemistry between Caleb and Estha.

Troye Sivan shines in the comedic moments of the film and seems very comfortable on screen, although he struggles just a bit with some of the story's more serious scenes. He really makes the character his own - it helps that he's pretty. All supporting performances are serviceable, Brianna Tju and Viveik Kalra play their roles well. A delightful debut by writer/director Jared Frieder!

I recommend watching it - it's nice, simple, touching, amusing, heartfelt, and we get so few queer films like it.

It's bugged me a little when we have fine teen films like Never Rarely Sometimes Always, or even Plan B, whose delicately deals with their serious theme without falling into too archetypical, and then we have Three Months.

I know it's an MTV film, hence being light and glittery has to be in its repertoire. However, the crammed of the late 2000's/early 2010's teen films clichés into the narrative doesn't necessarily make it more than just average at best.