In the 1980s, it was nothing to wander the mall, from Spencer’s to Waldenbooks, with no direction. Alas, similar ambling takes place in the screenwriter-director Aitch Alberto’s sweet-at-heart but lukewarm indie drama about two Mexican American high schoolers coming-of-age in 1987 El Paso.
Based on Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s eponymous YA novel, the film tracks the friendship between Aristotle, or Ari (Max Pelayo), and Dante (Reese Gonzales), who meet on a hot day at a swimming pool. Ari is drawn to Dante’s curiosity about the world, the byproduct of Dante’s art-loving parents (Kevin Alejandro and Eva Longoria). It’s worlds away from Ari’s solemn but loving mother and father (Eugenio Derbez and Veronica Falcón), who know something’s up when their kind son befriends Dante, who favors mesh tank tops and yearns to visit the Louvre.
As Ari and Dante tiptoe into boyfriend-ish territory, Alberto takes disruptive detours, including a car accident, a brother we don’t talk about and, most strangely, having an unseen Dante narrate letters to Ari when Dante’s family relocates to Chicago. (AIDS is a blip, glimpsed only on a newscast.) Dante’s return sets in motion the forecast feel-good finale.
Pelayo’s naturalistic easy-breeziness is a convincing contrast to Gonazles’s self-aware performance as a more worldly city-seeker who’s a bus ticket away from becoming a club kid. A less sentimental, wish-fulfilling approach to Mexican American identity, gay self-discovery and Reagan-era Texas will wait for another day. Until then, fans of “Heartstopper”-style slow-burn romance will eat up this tender film’s subtle charms.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Rated PG-13 for anti-gay violence and cussin’ like they do in Texas. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes. In theaters.
