All the Fires (Todos los incendios) review – the heat of teenage life, the blaze of desire and the inferno of grief

All the Fires (Todos los incendios) is now available to rent, buy or stream in the United States. It is currently awaiting a United Kingdom release date.

Humans have always been fascinated by fire. It gives us warmth, protects us from darkness, mesmerizes us with its patterns, floating embers, and sound, and acts as a reminder of all that has passed. However, for all its beauty, fire is also fierce, unwieldy, volatile, and destructive; much like a teenager in those most challenging years of adolescence, it is unknowable, uncertain, and full of rage. Unlike many species on our spinning blue planet, humans are not born with an instinctive fear or understanding of fire; it is something we learn as children and young people, and during this learning process, it can become an obsession that carries risk and danger. As All the Fires (Todos los incendios) opens, it’s clear that Bruno, the brilliant Sebástian Rojano, is obsessed with fire, burning everything from matchstick models to footballs and flowers while recording each flaming adventure for his social media account and fellow online pyromaniac friends. But beneath the white-hot heat of his obsession, Bruno is attempting to deal with the death of his father, the emergence of his complicated sexual feelings for boys and girls, and his mother’s new partner.

We all know that adolescence is really messy! But despite this, some coming-of-age films attempt to portray this period of our lives as a simple collection of choices and experiences, with teenage life viewed through the lens of adult writers and directors looking back at their own youth through rose-tinted specs. In truth, while some parts of the adolescent experience are universal to us all, from anxiety and fear to hormonal surges and the need for self-expression, the lion’s share is unique to us, reflecting our family situation, likes and dislikes, and emerging sense of self. Teenage life is like a red-hot flame dancing on the breeze: a mix of colours and experiences, thoughts and desires that dance, spark and flutter in unique patterns, always threatening to lose control and engulf everything around them.

Mauricio Calderón Rico’s All The Fires (Todos los incendios) understands youth’s heat, complexity and uncertainty in a way many other films struggle to grasp. For Bruno, the fires he lights and the movies he creates for others feel like the only things he has control over. Here, the social media channels of his pyromaniac adventures are his only real passion as he plans his next video with the help of Ian (Ari Lopez), his best friend, who also has a crush on him. But does Bruno feel the same? There’s no doubting the chemistry between Bruno and Ian; they masturbate together, play video games until the sun sets, watch their online creations and talk about their deepest thoughts and feelings. Ian openly discusses his emerging sexuality and his desires, including his feelings for Bruno. However, Bruno is a closed book, and while he occasionally teases Ian with the possibility of sex, he clings to his straight identity and a girl he has never met who sends him pictures online. When his mum (Ximena Ayala) throws a birthday party for her new boyfriend Gerardo (Hector Illanes), Bruno leaves his family home, embarking on a road trip to meet the girl, Daniela (Natalia Quiroz), whom he has only ever seen online.

Mauricio Calderón Rico defies the standard trajectory of the LGBTQ+ coming-of-age, coming-out movie, ditching simple clichés and burning the rulebook. Is Bruno gay, bisexual or just exploring himself and those around him? We are never sure, and it really doesn’t matter when compared to the more significant issue of unresolved grief, anger and burning confusion he carries. Every character in Rico’s film is travelling through their own messy adolescence, from Ian to Daniela and her friends, each looking for answers from others while learning that the answers they seek are held inside themselves. All The Fires (Todos los incendios) ultimately understands the heat of teenage life, the blaze of desire and the inferno of grief, offering us a movie that defies expectations from the outset.