My Best Friend (2018) – A Quiet, Heartfelt Exploration of Identity, Intimacy, and the Spaces Between Words
My Best Friend (Mi Mejor Amigo) is not a loud film. It doesn’t shout, it doesn’t push, and it never dramatizes what it can simply show. Instead, it moves like a summer breeze through the open spaces of adolescence — a soft, thoughtful coming-of-age story that lingers long after its final frame.
Directed by Martín Deus, the film follows Lorenzo, a shy, introverted teenager growing up in the windswept plains of Patagonia. His life takes a subtle shift when his family takes in Caíto, a troubled boy with a mysterious past. What begins as an awkward coexistence between two very different boys slowly transforms into an intimate and unspoken bond — one built not on grand declarations, but on glances, silences, and the gradual peeling away of masks.
Angelo Mutti Spinetta brings a quiet depth to Lorenzo, portraying him with the sensitivity of someone who feels deeply but doesn’t yet know how to name what he feels. Lautaro Rodríguez, as Caíto, is raw and magnetic — a perfect counterpoint to Lorenzo’s restraint. Together, their chemistry is delicate, restrained, and profoundly authentic.
The film resists the urge to label, to explain, or to moralize. There’s no melodrama here, only moments — shared headphones, motorcycle rides at dusk, long walks under heavy skies — moments that speak volumes without needing dialogue. It’s a story about emotional awakening, the confusing beauty of adolescent connection, and the bittersweet knowledge that some people enter our lives not to stay, but to teach us who we are.
Cinematographer Sebastián Gallo captures Patagonia with poetic realism: vast, empty landscapes that mirror the boys’ emotional terrain — quiet, untamed, and filled with possibility. The score is minimal and haunting, giving space for the story to breathe and for the viewer to feel without being told what to feel.
Final Verdict:
My Best Friend is a gentle triumph — a deeply human film that treats teenage emotion with rare respect and emotional honesty. It doesn’t try to answer every question, because growing up isn’t about answers — it’s about learning to live with the questions. And in that uncertainty, My Best Friend finds something beautiful, and true.
