Fireflies (2018)

Arash Marandi ("Ramin") has escaped his harsh life in Iran and is trying to make it to Greece. Unfortunately, he stowed aboard a boat going a bit further afield - and he ends up in Mexico with little money and even less Spanish. Using his limited English, he manages to find some lodgings and a job in construction for which his svelte frame is ill suited. He is gay and occasionally seeks comfort under the pier, but the main object of his affections is increasingly his tattooed pal "Guillermo" (Luis Alberti) who has designs on emigrating for a construction job in Canada. The narrative is busy; we see this handsome and educated young man trying to fit into the relatively poverty stricken environment whilst these around him get on with their lives. It is as if we are a fly on the wall watching an episode in his life. Nothing especially conclusive happens - and that's OK. We share in his hope and optimism, we've all had a bit of furtive nookie once or twice, and we've probably all fallen at least once for the wrong person. He has to stay positive and, to a defining extent, he does - and Marandi's performance does draw us in. The pace is a bit wayward at times; it can lose focus now and again but I guess that it was made on a minimal budget and though not a great piece of cinema, it plays it's cards with subtlety and some skill. Worth a watch, I'd say.