Synopsis
18-year-old Jesús lives with his stern, somewhat unaffectionate father in Santiago, Chile. When not doing drugs, having casual sex or simply slouching in front of the TV, Jesús and his friends perform in a K-pop boyband. But his routine is thrown into chaos one evening when he and his drunken posse viciously assault a young gay man and leave him for dead. It’s an act that propels Jesús into a profound moral crisis which have severe consequences.
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Cast
- Nicolás DuránJesús
- Alejandro GoicHéctor
- Gastón SalgadoBeto
- Sebastián AyalaPizarro
- Esteban GonzálezRaúl
- Constanza MorenoAylín
- Pablo GutiérrezGonzalo
- Carlos EspinozaPhone Seller
- Diego CardonaSecurity Guard
- Gloria GranjaMarta
Recommendations
- 90
Variety
Jesús investigates the darkest side of adolescence, raising a number of moral questions without providing easy answers. The top-notch cast is the icing on the cake, with Goic stoically embodying Chile’s hopes and failures while young Durán mesmerizes with his stunning androgyny. - 83
The Film Stage
Jesús proves a gripping cautionary tale unafraid to let its characters suffer for justice. A son’s mistake becomes a father’s failure and no matter what happens, no one’s soul is left whole. - 80
Screen Daily
The film imaginatively uses a presumably tight budget to claustrophobic advantage. - 80
Village Voice
The tense final act...investigates its moral quandaries with a rigor this kind of bad-seed street-teen movie usually can’t manage. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Often shown in dark, flat and agitated closeups, Goic and Duran are both compelling performers. - 70
Los Angeles Times
Guzzoni’s movie is an unsparing portrait of aimlessness told mostly in the queasiest shades. - 63
Slant Magazine
Fernando Guzzoni's Jesus is at its best when it steers clear of pat moralizing and simply yokes its moody sense of atmosphere to the aimlessness of the story’s young characters. - 40
The New York Times
One feels the filmmaker trying hard to work out the inner struggles of his sad but largely unsympathetic characters. But his movie is as miserable and ultimately confounding as it is earnest.
