People appeared to really enjoy this movie. Even with the caveat that a fair number in the audience were friends of director Gerardo Naranja, it's easy to imagine that specialized audiences in general will respond positively.
Centered around a seedy stretch of beach in Acapulco, various characters meet a moment of decision in their lives.
A young couple bicker in a restaurant. They've broken up and he left town with some of her father's money, but he hasn't given up on the relationship. She declares her love for her new boyfriend and curses at her ex, which doesn't keep him from following her home.
Unhappy with her mother and homelife, a mid-teen girl decides to join her friends' gang. They call themselves 'the Yahairis' and troll the beach looking for rich Americans to roll.
An old man says goodbye to a family member and heads to the beach with a gun in his pocket and suicide on his mind.
The stories bounce around each other in an engaging manner as they are told, and there's a bit of movement back and forth in time, though the whole thing takes place in a single day. Writer/director Naranja makes some sharp observations about these desperate characters, and his handheld style is fairly effective -- though shots that are out of focus for no apparent purpose or effect have grown wearisome.
Then what's the problem? Personally I leapt off the train when one character appears to force sex on another, who, after initially resisting, gives in to the situation.
As he's tearing off her clothes, she implores him to wear a condom, and he responds: "Bitch, I'm raping you!" From the way the scene plays out -- affection is shown between them, she tells him how much she missed him, and they end up having sex again later -- it appears to be some kind of sexual role-playing between two young lovers.
Strictly as a personal matter, I found the scene ugly in the extreme, and feel that any portrayal of forced sex that paints it in a favorable light to be deplorable. I am perfectly willing to accept that I misread the scene and allowed my own personal issues to cloud my view of it. Perhaps you could argue that it's not fair to take the scene out of context, though it appears so early in the film that we don't have a clear idea about the nature of their relationship. But combined with the generally selfish, unlikable behavior of the characters, I found the entire experience to be very unpleasant.
Maybe that was the intention. I wasn't able to stay for the Q&A with the director. And, again, to be fair, mine appeared to be a minority opinion.
