I was slightly misled by the cover of the dvd, which seemed to promise some sort of steamy male erotic arthouse film. Well, arthouse sure is what I got, but mostly of the dramatic kind, and so intangible that a lot of its why's and how's and where to's eluded my too simple brain.
It's, as far as I could grasp it, about a disfunctional family: an embittered, unstable and castrating mother and her two young adult sons. They all have long and cynical conversations, bicker and yell, and in the meantime try to celebrate a family christmas dinner. The boys both have gay issues: Vicente is closeted, seeking anonymous and risky sex at cruising areas and feeling guilty and despondent about it; Borja revels at home in solo gay fantasies. This leads to a clash with each other, and eventually, when the mother steps in, to a sudden violent and fatal outburst.
We later see Borja emerging in the dark underworld of gay saunas, for yet another violent act. Is it a revenge for his brother? A kinky sexual fulfillment? A reckoning with his own being gay? We never know (or I totally missed it of course).
Throughout the movie there's a lot of male sex and nudity, and one has to praise both young actors for their courage to go along with the apparent need for realism of the director. It's a bit much and probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I guess functional for the story that the makers want to tell. Only don't expect a steamy sex movie, in that respect the cover definitely is used for tittilating PR-purposes only.
