Raw, magnetic performances drive this proudly queer rite of passage, as does honesty, as The Last First Time explores a single transformational night in all its messiness and joy, while never airbrushing away the risks, uncertainty, and insecurity it holds.
A rite of passage can be tender, magical and joyous, or taut, uncertain and full of risk. For 18-year-old Eduardo (Alejandro Quintana), a small-town boy discovering all the city has to offer, it’s a mix of all these. Eduardo is seeking escape, not only from his small-town life, but from the shackles that life places on him as a queer kid needing to spread his wings sexually and socially.
Dressed to impress for a school entrance exam that could open the door to a lasting sense of freedom, the city of Guadalajara, Mexico, beckons, but it’s not the exam that consumes his thoughts, but the possibility of meeting another boy via the app he has hurriedly joined, or through a glance, brief connection, or bathroom encounter. Not only is Eduardo on a mission to secure his future, but he is on a mission to lose his virginity in Rafael Ruiz Espejo’s uncompromising and intoxicating portrait of first sex, infatuation and escape, The Last First Time ‘El fin de las primeras veces.’
As Eduardo nervously prepares for his exam, texts from his mother ping on his phone, showing that this escape is also about home, and a mother determined to wrap him in cotton wool due to her own fears about his sexuality.
As Eduardo stands in the school bathroom freshening up for the exam ahead, a boy catches his eye. The confident, assured and sexy Mario (Carlos E. López Cervantes) looks him up and down, his eyes doing the talking as they glide over the transfixed Eduardo. Mario is everything Eduardo wishes he could be, and everything he wants so desperately. For Eduardo, this mysterious and alluring boy holds the key to what this escape was built on, and despite his mother’s endless texts, he is going to make the most of it.
When Mario invites Eduardo back to his home in the city suburbs, Eduardo knows that sex is on the menu, but what he doesn’t know is that one decision is about to lead to a night of hedonistic pleasure, risk, sex, joy and disappointment, as he breaks out of the shackles of his home life and forges a new ‘free’ identity on the streets of Guadalajara.
Rafael Ruiz Espejo’s portrait of a boy finding himself and the vast opportunities his youth affords him is a hot, heavy, and hedonistic exploration of teenage rebellion and queer desire that feels as if it were built on lived experience. Raw, magnetic performances drive this proudly queer rite of passage, as does honesty, as The Last First Time explores a single transformational night in all its messiness and joy, while never airbrushing away the risks, uncertainty, and insecurity it holds. Alejandro Quintana is nothing short of outstanding in this brave and bold film, as are the ensemble cast surrounding him. At times, these performances are so rooted in the chaotic energy and fast decision-making of youth that we, the audience, feel like flies on the wall at a party we were never invited to.
As the film ends, Eduardo must face the reality of his return home, but no matter what he faces, his world has changed forever. Eduardo is now, like Mario, a proud and assured queer young man who will never allow himself to be shackled again in this truly stunning queer coming-of-age tale that exudes the fiery emotions, hormonal energy, doubts and desires of youth.
The Last First Time is available to rent, stream and buy now.
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