Here’s the thing: at this point, we all know the tropes, twists, turns, and turmoils of a standard queer love story. So, in order for your movie to stand out from the rest, it needs to at least have characters that are interesting enough for us to care about their by-the-numbers romance.

And that’s why I loved Esteros: sure, we’ve seen this exact same movie a thousand times before, but Jero and Matías intrigued me, I wanted to spend time with them, I wanted them to end up together, to kiss, to fuck, to fool around in the water.

Trust me, there are so many queer movies out there where I’m not even the least interested in the cute, shirtless twinks…

Two men who shared a tender friendship in their youths before being separated by their parents reconnect in rural Argentina. They pick up their respective insecurities where they left off giving ample space for director Papu Curotto to play the two time periods in parallel for dramatic effect.

Dramas like Esteros that aim for emotional delicacy rely heavily on the performances of their leads and the chemistry between them. Curotto gets it half right, well three quarters. Both the kids (Blas Finardi Niz and Joaquín Parada) put in solid work, it is just that one half of the adult couple (Ignacio Rogers) lets the team down and in the process pushes the film into “so what” territory. He’s whiny and…

This film from Argentina is what I like to call a slow, gentle story that doesn't deal with propulsive action or explosions of drama, but languidly unfolds to a logical conclusion. Some may then equate this with being boring, which it's not. The viewer just needs to recline back and let themselves be immersed into this world. Your mind won't be blown or your world forever altered. And, that's okay. Some films are just meant to tell a small story of coming to terms with who you are.

Esteros is about Matias and Jeronimo, two very close childhood tweens who begin to realize their feelings for each other. Both boys enjoy dancing together, hanging out during Carnival, showering naked together,…

I don't know why but this resonated with me a lot. Going to a childhood home, reminiscing all that happened. It's the typical coming of age story, not breaking new ground. But it's sweet, beautifully shot, especially the estuaries. It's happy and realistic not idealistic and overly stylized.

The back and forth between past and the present is well done could haved used more or it, more tension, more action to flesh out the story more.

Every little thing builds up to another, objects, places, scenes gain new context and you can really see why Matias and Jeronimo grew up like they are. Both characters feel extremely organic, they have one liners that I'll never forget.

But at the in…