Barrio Boy

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I hadn't been aware that this is a full-length version of a short film of the same name. It wouldn't have changed my mind. I enjoyed the film a great deal.

What people forget us that not every community even in supposedly liberal countries is able to be at ease with deviations from societal norms. Knuckle dragging some of the characters might be, but there was enough growth in the story leading to an implicit acknowledgement of being gay at the end. And no one freaked! That's the real kernel of the story.

The cast was attractive, even the thugs. The acting was more than competent. The film had no sense of having been padded out from a short version; it stood on its own.

I'd say watch it.

Loved this beautiful film, which gave me a window into a corner of the NY LGBTQ+ experience I wasn't previously familiar with. Great storytelling, deeply authentic performances, and a clear love of New York made this film sing. In addition, I was deeply moved by the central storyline.

I think we are seeing trending LGBTQ+ stories currently that presume an ease with coming out. This has not been the experience of my community, and this film really spoke to a different connection to gay life in 2024.

We need more personal narratives brought to light in such thoughtful ways. Bravo! I've recommended it to multiple friends and family members.

It was a fine film but a little all over the place. I liked the barber's cousin/colleague the most. A lot of the characters were either pointless (the family scenes nice but didn't have any pay off) or really awful (the other cousins etc.). The lead character seemed to have many personalities throughout.

The film also leads us to a conclusion that it doesn't actually deliver on so one is left wondering what was the point of the film? The lead is exactly in the same spot as he was at the beginning. So the journey has no pay off.

There was some good ideas in here though.

Standing up to your own family can be a really hard thing to do. Especially when that family member is a violent one. And this movie is an excellent example of that. Quique lives in a neighborhood that screams toxic masculinity. Especially his criminal cousin, Cuz. A homophobic and violent drug dealer who makes his life harder than it should have been. It's a real life depiction of someone's struggle. That's what I like about this movie. The story was delivered with solid acting and decent plot. What I don't like is the ending. It's kind of disappointing, at least for me. The decision that Quique took was very disappointing, it's cowardice. And when he finally overcame his fears, it was already too late. If you wanna watch this movie, just be prepared for a lousy ending.

This is one of those frustrating movies that had everything needed to make it at very least an enjoyable way to pass an hour and twenty minutes but it just missed out on the very fundamental element of any good movie , a good script. The actors were all competent but they were totally held back by a bad script. There are lots of pointless scenes of cats in alleys and then the end of the story has to be related to a character so that we actually find out what did , or didn't happen. It had all the potential to be a much better movie and it could have been worse but it should have been a whole lot better. I don't like to s**t on a movie that a lot of people put a lot of time and effort into but I was very kind rating this a 7. Disappointing.