(2025, 88 min)
Country: Argentina
Director: Tadeo Pestana Caro
Studio: Cinephobia Releasing
Language: Spanish w/Subtitles
SYNOPSIS: Twenty-year-old Santiago (Max Suen) works in a mindless data center by day. By night, he obsessively searches gay hookup apps to see what kind of men might be available. One night, as he runs from sex clubs to potential sexual encounters, he begins to realize that while sex may be plentiful, intimacy is a rarity. The debut feature of Argentine writer-director Tadeo Pestana Caro, A Few Feet Away is an exciting, unsparing, fast-paced and insightful look at one young gay man as he dives headfirst into the wild, sexually charged world of gay dating apps and anonymous hookup culture.
REVIEW:
The immersive gay drama, “A Few Feet Away,” now available on VOD, takes its title from the proximity 20-year-old Santiago (Max Suen) has from any potential hookup. And Santi has many opportunities for sex over the course of the day that unfolds in writer/director Tadeo Pestaña Caro’s compelling and poignant film.
Set in Buenos Aires, Santi is first seen in an apartment with Luis (Martín Shanly), a realtor. He is not there to rent the place, but the tryst he expects does not happen either. Frustrated, he goes off to work and gossips with his bestie, Karen (Jazmín Carballo).
As he hopes to meet someone, Santi works on his dating app, posing for and posting photos, as well as swiping and texting profiles and waiting for someone to message him. (The subtitles amusingly type out like a text in some scenes).
“A Few Feet Away” slowly reveals Santi’s intent. Is he just looking for sex, or does he want a relationship, or true love? The film presents him as a lonely, horny, young gay man searching for someone and something. A date Santi has with J (Esteban Kukuriczka) starts out promisingly enough with the typical awkward talk. J reveals he is bi, which piques Santi’s curiosity, but when J tries to arrange some intimacy in a bar bathroom, Santi panics and flees. One of Santi’s issues is that he has not been with many guys, and his efforts to date via the app is to gain some experience.
Santi does not seem to know what he is looking for — other than some kind of connection. He is lost and lonely, wandering the streets of Buenos Aires, scoping guys out on the street, and checking his phone regularly for a possible message. He is isolated, and to some, even invisible. Santi pursues one guy with the handle, “club berlin??” (Luciano Mortarotti) and follows him to the titular establishment. But Santi can’t enter — he is too young — and instead meets up with Karen at an after-work party.
“A Few Feet Away” shifts gears in its second act, to philosophize about dating, love and relationships. As Santi arrives at the party, someone “a few feet away” is sending him dick pics. As Santi tries to guess who, he recounts stories about his earlier date to Karen, lying about what actually happened. He also talks to Lucas (Felipe Romeo), who may be the guy in the photograph. Their conversation includes a discussion about threesomes. Santi lies about having one to Lucas, taking a cue from his date with the bisexual J as a flashback depicts the fictional encounter. The guys also talk about the thrill of spontaneity, and if one prefers to “call or be called.” These moments reveal some details about Santi — specifically how he tries to find a way to relate and impress guys and not expose his insecurity. They also allow him to fantasize and imagine what he wants from a lover.
Suen is best in these scenes because viewers understand what he is doing and sympathize with him. When Karen gives Santi some valuable advice, that “Life is the songs you dance [to], not the guys you make out with,” it emphasizes how he needs to define himself and not be defined by others. But Santi may not be ready to learn that lesson.
After a situation develops at the after afterparty, Santi heads back out to Club Berlin, determined to enter. When he does, he follows Julian (Nicolás Rodriguez), a hot guy Santi saw on the app. However, Santi is stopped by Guido (Matías Méndez), an older man whose direct messages to Santi have been ignored all night. Guido is not Santi’s type, but he helps Santi gain access to the club’s backroom, where Julian goes to participate in an orgy.
“A Few Feet Away” and Santi now get into sexually explicit territory, as he wanders through the crowd, hoping to hook up with Julian. Pestaña Caro shoots this extended sequence artfully, using deliberate lighting and stylized editing to convey the overwhelming sensations that Santi experiences in this hothouse environment — a place where someone else is always interested and available. How Santi handles the naked bodies, groping and anonymous sexual encounters gives the film its power.
Pestaña Caro is not sensationalizing the behavior depicted, but is commenting on how gay men make connections through sex, however fleeting or lasting. He is also addressing issues of self-love and self-destruction, especially as Santi processes his night in a wistful episode outside the club. “A Few Feet Away” does not judge its protagonist or his actions; the film just holds a mirror up to what gay hookup culture has become.
Suen’s relatable performance carries viewers through the story because he is an everyman who wants to explore his sexuality and has to play a game to do it. Watching him, an innocent, looking for connection is a sweet, sexy and sad experience, but ultimately a satisfying one. Swipe right on “A Few Feet Away.”
Review by Gary M. Kramer, Philadelphia Gay News (https://epgn.com//)
