Solo *** (2013, Patricio Ramos, Mario Verón, Carlos Echevarría) – Classic Movie Review 12,812

Solo (2013) is a refreshing, teasing, very bright and lively Argentinian LGBT film. Boldly, and smoothly, it starts like a passionate gay sex film, moves on to being a romantic drama, and ends up as an ingenious and chilling straight thriller. 

First-time writer/ director Marcelo Briem Stamm’s Solo (2013) is a refreshing, teasing, very bright and lively Argentinian LGBT film. Boldly, and smoothly, it starts like a passionate gay sex film, moves on to being a romantic drama, and ends up as an ingenious and chilling straight thriller.

Solo is an excellent, satisfying film, with two super, sexy main performances (it is basically a two-hander, though there are four other actors) and a very good score too. The two stars share great, credible chemistry, and generate a lot of heat.

Patricio Ramos stars as Manuel, hurt by the breakup with his deceptive previous boyfriend, who meets Julio (Mario Veron) in an online chat room and then at Manuel’s place, where sexual spark is quickly ignited. That night, in the heat of passion, they impetuously and instantly decide to become boyfriends and life partners, apparently made for each other, peas in a pod, but it turns out that both have big-time problems with trust and the truth.

Tension and suspense rise as the tattooed, tough, enigmatic Julio starts to seem menacing to the milder mannered, gentler Manuel. Alarm bells start to ring when Julio says: ‘There are really bad people round there. They say one thing and they mean another. You never know who you’re dealing with. You don’t even know who you’re bringing into your home.’

Nevertheless, they talk it out, talk through their issues, talk through their worries, resolve things, and look to the happy future, as they plan to make a getaway to a better life together next morning. But…

Enterprisingly, it is shot mostly in the same room of an apartment on a low budget of $30,000 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This idea doesn’t cramp its style. There is no sense of constriction or strain. It is entirely cinematic. It is very nicely filmed.

It is made in Spanish, with English subtitles. It runs just 67 minutes.

A word to the wise, there’s a neat post credits sequence, by the way.

It debuted in the US on July 13, 2013 at QFest, and had its US DVD premiere on November 12, 2013, In the UK, DVD premiere was September 23, 2013. Its Argentina release date was October 17, 2013.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,812

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