Mentiras y gordas

I saw this film at the Cannes Film Festival. It was looking for international distributors after opening number 1 in Spain.

While it is far from a perfect movie, this is on par with 'Kids' and 'Skins'. I remember back to when I first saw Kids - and had similar feelings. This time, I am older and wiser (for instance, I cringed when they repeatedly had sex without condoms and the female characters claimed to be taking the pill.. as if the skanky guy didn't have one or more diseases), but many of the consequences were real.

Leave your parents at home. This one is strictly for you and your friends & lovers.

If you are tired of the good movies, the good acting and -of course- of your money, and what you expect is nothing but teen porno and a look into one of the worst movies ever made... this is the picture of your life. By the way, there are no spoilers here... since there's nothing to be revealed. Nothing. "The butler is the killer". Save your money and your time. Nothing but rubbish. The acting and the direction are so marginal they shouldn't get any payment for this "thing". Characters are so awful not intending anything but to show you what you don't want to see... unless you are a "Peeping Tom". Regarding the story... well, the writer is Angeles Gonzalez Sinde. She is now the new Minister of Culture of the Government Cabinet in Spain, so you can imagine how things are going to be for the so called "Spanish Cinema". May God have mercy on us all!

To start of with the possessives: I think the movie is well shot, it looks good. But it pretty much stops there.

There is no progress what so ever. Things happen because they happen. There is no sense of progress to the story. And you feel like you are watching event after event take place. So you end up watching these girls and boys take drugs, drink and of course have lot's of sex.

I think I counted 6 sex scenes, placed around the movie, so whenever the viewers think about turning of the film or walking out of the theater, they think that the sex scenes will capture your attention. And for many, it does exactly that. Teens having sex in the toilet of nightclubs.

If you are looking for a good film, look somewhere else. if you want to see teens have sex, well... try porn or this film.

This film did not bore me one single second. It has a great cast of handsome, young, talented actors. The script is delightfully irreverent and at times refreshingly comic. Visually, it's fast paced, and we move from iridescent scenes in da club, hands in the air dancing to anthems, to sleazily snorting cocaine in the toilet cubicles, or heedlessly taking home dodgy young studs for a one night stand. Yes, it's that type of movie: sex, drugs and club life, Spanish style (they're no prudes, and I like it).

But there's more to it than that. Within this promiscuous hedonist environment, people are trying to find a match for their desires. The storyline where one guy (Mario Casas) is secretly in love with his best (straight) mate (Yon Gonzales) is particularly well done. The film is anything but shallow. People writing this film off, because of its themes, are shallow.

The soundtrack is a joy as well.

The movie is just six years old, but does feel a bit dated already. It's not how the people party or their relationships they have (or don't have for that matter). It's the fact, that social media has changed almost everything and it feels weird not seeing an effect of that in the movie, which makes it feel almost more dated than some movies from the 90s or even 80s.

The story this tells (or stories, because it involves a lot of people) also might feel like a TV movie of the week for some. One that has quite a lot of nudity in it of course, but still. It's decent with the telling and the characters get the time they need to develop. The drama feels real too. It's not as bad as the rating here would suggest, but it's not really a great movie either