Antonia De Michelis, Luz Palazón, Manuel Martínez Sobrado
106 min
TLDR
Call Me By Your Name, who?
What it's about
Returning to his former hometown in the Argentine countryside, Martin reunites with his former childhood friend Eugenio, and decides to help him in restoring his summer home. However, the more they spend time together, their mutual attraction pushes them to reconsider the relationship they share.
The take
People’s first impression of us usually sticks with them, but there are some lucky instances where you meet again, and their impression of you gets updated to the point that you start to care for each other more than you do other people– you both become special to each other. This change is at the center of Hawaii, the 2013 Argentine gay drama. Writer-director Marco Berger crafts a charged, compelling connection because of that change in impression, as their dynamic holds much more at stake than just a summer romance. Through shared, natural moments, Hawaii is content in letting the tension simmer between the two men as they start to reassess the task and their attraction at hand.
What stands out
I love the homoeroticism of their second glances, their mutual gaze, and their longing looks, but I also could not tell you what exactly they were fixing in Eugenio’s house.