Tremblements

Jayro Bustamante's 'Temblores' bit into the burning themes of Guatemalan society, such as faith, homophobia, and the effort to maintain a good, clean reputation even at the cost of personal freedom and happiness. The movie captivates with interesting approaches and strong acting performances. Unfortunately, it squanders the immense potential for something vital and thrilling by never going deep enough on either topic and only loosely touches on the conflicting emotional life of its protagonist.

Set in Guatemala, Pablo (Juan Pablo Olyslager) faces a crisis in his life when he reveals to his family that he is gay and will be moving out to be with his male partner Francisco (Mauricio Armas Zebadua).

Pablo's wife Isa (Diane Bathen) gets the courts to issue a restraining order against him so he cannot see his two children. She eventually will threaten him that unless he enrolls in a gay conversion therapy program in their radical religious church, she will take the children to America.

Overall, I thought this drama was solidly acted with realistic characters, as well as ably written and directed by Guatemalan filmmaker Tayro Bustamante.

A wife of unspeakable beauty, two adorable children, a flourishing professional activity, ... It's a wonderful life for Pablo, until the discovery of an extramarital and homosexual affair. In this Guatemalan microcosm, an extramarital affair is already inadmissible in itself. And homosexual?!? This is definitely the trigger of a profoundly repressive modus operandi. Pablo is then high and dry, in the depths of the abyss, as a pawn at the mercy of a coercive environment, wedged between two concomitant loves: with his family and with Francisco. Even if the first twenty minutes are a bit messy, the cast is excellent and the photography is neat.

I truly enjoyed several aspects of this film including the scenography and the environments used here. Great acting as well. I read other criticisms as accusations to the gay life on this movie but I believe the intention was to show us that could also be the hell dressed up in religion.

"Temblores" is another in the "gay conversion" film genre, so, though it's a solid enough movie in its own right, it suffers from having a "been there done that" quality.

This time around the setting is Guatemala, and the protagonist is a married man with children whose affair with another man sends his strict religious family into a tailspin. The movie marches through its predictable paces with decent if not especially memorable performances and a suitably downbeat ending.

"Temblores" isn't a film that I'm going to spend much time mulling over or have a strong feeling about one way or the other, but it does shed light on some really backwards cultural beliefs and laws in Guatemala, so if it brings some awareness to the harm yet one more country's rigid convictions are doing to a subset of its population, I can forgive it for being a bit late to the party.

Grade: B