Glue

Expect a refreshingly realistic dose of adolescent angst when sniffing Alexis dos Santos's first feature film GLUE. Patagonia provides little amusement for the burgeoning youth in the area and 15-year-old Lucas is bored. Like most teenage boys, he spends the majority of his time thinking about sex, and the rest of his time talking about it. Best friend Nacho, who annoyingly has more chest hair than Lucas, is almost always at his side. When the boys meet homely Andrea, who is almost as obsessed with sex as they are, the three develop an immediate friendship. As they self-indulgently ponder the deeper meaning of life, they entangle themselves (and their tongues) in a steamy mess of sexual experimentation. Relying mostly on improvisation, Dos Santos draws moving and genuine performances out of the teenage leads. The Violent Femmes serve as the perfect soundtrack to this sexually frustrated coming-of-age drama. – E.J.B.