THE STORY – A group of punk rockers in search of freedom deliberately inject HIV to live at a government-run treatment home so they can create their own utopia.
THE CAST – Eros de la Puenta, Héctor Medina, Adria Arjona, Luis Alberto García, Pedro Martinez & Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez Gomez
THE TEAM – Tyler Nilson & Michael Schwartz (Director/Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 105 Minutes
It’s wild to think that it has been five years since Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s last feature, “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” one of the more stealthily beloved and heartwarming films to come out in recent memory. Now, the filmmaking duo is taking their talents from the waters of the American South to the scorching-hot streets of 1990’s Cuba with their new project “Los Frikis.” While the directing duo still somewhat retains their crowd-pleasing nature with “Los Frikis,” it doesn’t quite pack the same emotional gut-punch or consistency that made their last feature work so well.
In “Los Frikis,” brothers Gustavo (played by Eros de la Puente) and Paco (played by Héctor Medina) both are facing the adversities of living in Cuba during the 1990s amidst the country feeling the repercussions of the collapse of the Soviet Union. They’re forced to work tirelessly, farming sugar cane and finding animals on the street to eat so they don’t starve. Paco, whose punk-rock free-flowing nature is severely frowned upon during this current political climate in Cuba, hatches a plan alongside his bandmates of Los Frikis to infect themselves with HIV so that they may be sent to a government-issued sanatorium. There, they can be free to live how they want, play how they want, and attempt to enjoy life for what it is. Soon, Gustavo is left behind and must find a way to join his brother, even if that means lying to those close to him. This is a story that many, including myself, might not have been already familiar with and seems almost too unreal to be a true story. Nilson and Schwartz take their time to establish the state of the country in which these boys are suffering and the extremes they would take to escape it.
Even after watching “Los Frikis,” the decision to use the character of Gustavo as the framing device of this story instead of that of his more charismatic brother Paco, who embodies everything of the rock and roll-fueled counterculture that this government is so deathly opposed to is a bit peculiar. On a more emotional level, it robs audiences due to the unintentional distancing created by seeing the story through the perspective of someone who didn’t make this radical choice and isn’t experiencing the detrimental consequences that come with it. Sure, Gustavo witnesses the pain caused to those by the HIV epidemic, and this happening to those close to you, especially this newfound family still has a profound effect on Gustavo’s overall journey. Instead, “Los Frikis” plays out in a more standard-by-numbers coming-of-age story, hitting every expected plot beat that has been done before.
Where “Los Frikis” does stand out in comparison to other coming-of-age films is in Nilson and Scharwtz’s dedication to finding Cuban actors who lend authenticity to a story that is approached with a sensitivity that is more than appreciated. Everyone in the ensemble is good in the roles given to them, as most characters are merely there to inhabit the surroundings of this sanatorium that Gustavo immerses himself in. It’s a shame because most of the members of Los Frikis aren’t even explored beyond following Paco to escape. La Puente, Medina, and Arjona are the only performers in the film who stand above such slight material. For his first film performance, La Puente is pretty solid throughout. You get a sense of the pain he wishes never to experience again and how the people he’s grown close to at the sanatorium are his entire world. La Puente also maintains himself quite well against talents like Medina and Adria Arjona (who plays Maria, the woman who runs the sanatorium).
Although the film is inherently Gustavo’s story, he is nothing short of electric whenever Paco appears on screen due to Medina’s incredible performance. Medina can capture such ferocity, angst, and elation so effortlessly that it’s no wonder why it feels like it’s his film when he has such a commanding on-screen presence. It gets to a point where audiences begin to wonder why the film doesn’t solely center around his character, who embodies everything these members of Los Frikis stood for. Arjona, who has only been blowing up these past few years, especially with her standout work in this year’s “Hit Man,” takes a back seat with “Los Frikis.” There’s something so natural about how she carries herself, even in a supporting role like this. Her work as Maria is so gentle and understanding, imbuing a kindness many of these patients at the sanatorium have been deprived of throughout their lives. Arjona’s performance is so good; it’s like Medina, where whenever she is absent from the film, you just wish that she would return to the screen again.
Santiago Gonzalez’s cinematography is also fantastic, capturing the lush vibrancy of Cuba’s environment. The country is captured in all of its natural beauty instead of being portrayed with a good-awful yellow tint many films put on foreign countries to deliver a sense of alienation to them. It’s the one technical aspect of “Los Frikis” that makes its mark, especially with how vivid the greenery of the sanatorium is captured. It’s a shame that the film isn’t as original as the true story that inspires it. Nilson and Schwartz know how to tap into the heartstrings of those who watch their films, but maybe this was a project where a bit more nuance should have been applied to the approach of its story and characters. Instead, it feels more of the same as their last endeavor, just not as polished, besides a few key aspects that stand out above the rest.
