Alejandro Andrade’s Fine Young Men (Hombres Íntegros) initially follows the expected rhythms of the coming-of-age, coming-out movie, but suddenly and sharply it takes a different path, shocking and destabilising the viewer.
As Alejandro Andrade’s Fine Young Men (Hombres Íntegros) opens, we meet young Alf (Andres Revo) as he returns to his prestigious Catholic school in Mexico after having left a year ago for an educational and cultural exchange at a priest’s boarding school in the United States. As Alf walks down the sunlit paths that lead to each classroom, his old friends greet him as if he had never left, each of them making plans to celebrate his return with parties, alcohol, women and drugs. But Alf’s life changed when he was away, thanks to a boy he met on the water polo team, and he wants nothing more than to return and continue his new life rather than falling back into the old one.
As Alf looks for something more, he meets the quiet and sensitive Oliver (Joaquín Emanuel), a boy who sits on the periphery of school life and is often taunted for being gay. The musically minded Oliver offers Alf an escape from his friendship group and an opportunity for love, as he and his female cousin invite Alf to jam on guitars, smoke weed, and sing old songs. But harmony is about to turn to dissonance as Alf attempts to navigate his peer group, his attraction to Oliver, and the inner turmoil consuming his every choice and decision.
Fine Young Men (Hombres Íntegros) initially follows the expected rhythms of the coming-of-age, coming-out movie, but suddenly and sharply it takes a different path, shocking and destabilising the viewer. Far from being a classic coming-out movie, Alejandro Andrade and fellow screenwriting partner Armando López offer us a powerful exploration of homophobia (internal and external), accepted and encouraged hyper-masculinity and privilege that buys influence and innocence. Here, Fine Young Men not only explores toxic male behaviours and the social structures that feed them, but also the inextricable link between homophobia and hyper-masculinity in creating environments of fear, oppression and violence for both girls and boys.
These discussions aren’t new; from If…. (1968) to Less Than Zero (1987) and Another Country (1984), many films have explored the intersection between homophobia, hyper-masculinity and privilege. While Fine Young Men (Hombres Íntegros) may not bring anything new to the table, it’s Andrade’s focus on the inner conflict of his lead character, Alf, brilliantly played by Revo in his first feature-length film, that makes this movie tick.
The son of a corrupt politician and a loving mother, who now detests the man she married, Alf’s life has been dictated by his privilege from a young age. His school is another layer to the mask of perfection he has been forced to wear since childhood. His peer group is a part of this mask, a closed and secretive brotherhood of affluence and control that isn’t optional. For a brief moment, his gilded cage was unlocked in the United States, and he was allowed to fly. But now he is back, and his wings have been clipped.
Alf wants to explore the new young man born during his time away. But, as he attempts to navigate his true self, the pressures of his peer group and the societal expectations set by his cold and distant father are impossible to overcome. For each decision Alf makes, he erects a metal bar before him until he is once again trapped in a cage as events spiral out of control and his light is consumed by darkness. In Fine Young Men what should have been a love story and a celebration of escape and rebirth becomes a far darker tale of the inability of many boys to navigate away from their protective but toxic pack—their fear rooted in becoming a lone wolf who is no longer a part of the hunt, even if they know the hunt will ultimately lead to their destruction.
Alejandro Andrade’s Fine Young Men (Hombres Íntegros) is screening at OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival and is awaiting a UK release date.
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