LOS FRIKIS (2024) review
written by: Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz
produced by: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Michael Schwartz & Tyler Nilson
directed by: Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz
rated: R (for language, sexual content, some graphic nudity and drug use)
runtime: 105 min.
U.S. release date: December 25, 2024
In 2019, American filmmakers Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz gave us “The Peanut Butter Falcon”, a sincere and humorous dramedy revolving around an unexpected friendship between two men in the southeast. It was an impressive directorial debut for the writer/director duo and something of a sleeper hit. For their second feature, “Los Frikis”, they are focusing on two Cuban brothers living in Havana during the early 1990s, a time called the “Special Period” when the country underwent severe economic depression after the Soviet Union collapsed. These two brothers were members of the Cuban punk scene who purposefully injected themselves with HIV to escape poverty by entering a government-run treatment home. You read that right.
It was a desperate time that most people weren’t even aware of, including me. Credit should be given to Nilson and Schwartz for trying to incorporate the same coming-of-age sentimentality of their last film to a story that can never truly escape its bleakness, nor should it.
During this dire period in history, thousands of Cubans tried migrating to Florida, risking their lives at sea in hopes of a better life. Among those who remained on the island nation were the defiant “Frikis,” rambunctious youth who listened voraciously to the kind of rock music Fidel Castro banned, basically anything from the U.S. This is how we meet wide-eyed Gustavo (first-time actor Eros de la Puente), a gawky 18-year-old, who looks up to his wild card brother, Paco (Héctor Medina) whose chest tattoo reads “Basura” (Trash), and adapts his taste in music: Barry Manilow is bad, and The Rolling Stones are good. The grunge sounds of the Seattle-based Nirvana are all the rage for these Frikis, a term applied to anyone outside the state’s rigid social norms.
Gustavo and Paco live with their uncle Mateo (Luis Alberto García), after their father was executed in the labor fields. When Mateo decides to take the perilous trip to the States across the ocean on a small boat, he excludes Paco due to his unpredictable nature and bad temper. This crushes Gustavo, who jumps off the boat while it’s in the water and swims back to shore to lighten his family’s load, primarily because he didn’t want to leave Paco alone.
But, Paco and their other Frikis pals have injected themselves with HIV so that a physician will send them off to a sanitarium where they’ll be provided with the necessities such as food, water, and shelter. They’re under the impression that they’ll only have flu-like symptoms and a cure for AIDS will be just around the corner. When Gustavo injects himself, the doctor he sees tells him he’s tested negative and then learns why the young man is there, takes pity, and signs off on his quarantine prognosis. Gustavo arrives at the sanitarium, which turns out to be an idyllic location with the compound surrounded by lush jungle and beautiful shorelines, an extreme opposite to the streets of Havana.
Paco is delighted to see his brother and introduces Gustavo to the rest of the Frikis crew and his new habitat. This is when Gustavo meets Maria (Adria Arjona), the caretaker at the sanitarium who provides food and anything else to the residents. Initially arriving at the sanitorium to be with her sick brother, Maria has stayed on to oversee everything long after he died. Maria is also the only one Gustavo tells his undiagnosed secret to, and that’s after he loses his virginity to her. The two go nuts, having sex near the stream, in the barn, and on the drums that Gustavo uses to play music with his Frikis pals. The kid is having Afternoon Delights every afternoon. It’s unclear what Maria sees in young Gustavo. He’s a friendly kid and isn’t as reckless and wild as the other Frikis, but what happens when all his HIV+ friends get worse and some inevitably die?
Throughout “Los Frikis,” Nilson and Schwartz choose a more hopeful tone than the undeniable bleakness that undercuts the entire narrative. Considering what everyone knew about AIDS at the time and how research and untested treatments were coming to Cuba relatively late compared to the States, viewers will understand that the outlook isn’t that good for these characters. Nevertheless, it’s still enjoyable to see this ensemble cast inhabit these mostly carefree characters who form a family due to their circumstances. Shot in the Dominican Republic where cinematographer Santiago Gonzalez takes advantage of the expansive landscape that isolates the characters while protecting them.
Sometimes, some of the tonal choices made in “Los Frikis” contradict the gravity of the characters’ situations. One example of this is the how the unusual score from composer Steven Price often comes in blaring during emotional times or heightened moments as if to cue viewers to “feel something”. Thanks, but we can figure that out on our own. In the third act, some of the characters from the sanitarium are just…gone.
The strong bond between Gustavo and Paco, which is the strength of the film, is overwhelmed by the horny fun that Gustavo is having with Maria. From Gustavo’s perspective, it’s understandable. Here’s a beautiful, caring older woman who wants to fool around – and it must be noted that 2024 was a good year for Arjana (who also serves as a producer here) with this film and Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” and Zoe Kravitz’s “Blink Twice” – but it does feel like the overall story is hijacked by its carnal activity. Still, Nilson and Michael Schwartz should be commended for their ability to tell a story that takes place during a time that most people were unaware of.
