The Astronaut Lovers (Los amantes astronautas) (FR)

MARCO BERGER | ARGENTINA | 2024 | 116 MIN | SPANISH FST + EST

Feature

Synopsis

SPANISH • FRENCH ST | In this stellar coming-of-bisexuality tale, childhood acquaintances—gay Pedro and questioning Maxi— meet again as young men in Buenos Aires, pretending to be lovers in an increasingly lustful subterfuge. Assumptions upended about how this dynamic will progress: who desires who more and whose guardrails will go up first. As Maxi (Lautaro Bettoni) teases, his derrière resembles an “albino penguin”—everyone stares. Though Pedro (Javier Orán) undoubtedly wants to, he calls Maxi out on his not-so-veiled come-ons. What does Maxi really want? To move fast and break things? Or is he the romantic he insists he is, tired of being used for “space flight(s)”? As these two formidable planets enter one another’s gravity, they may or may not be falling for one another. Opposing prospects that neither seems prepared to handle. The Astronaut Lovers has the hallmarks of Marco Berger’s homoerotic Horseplay (I+N35, 2022): frank discussions, tested preferences, and lots of skin. But here, the ever-present threat of violence is replaced by the possibility of fulfillment, a mature examination of sexuality occurring between the lines of flirty, immature games. Berger’s film is a blast of horniness and astronomical romance.

Trailer

Filmmaker Bio

Marco Berger is an Argentinean film director and screenwriter. He studied at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires and made his directorial debut in 2007 with the short films Una última voluntad and El reloj. His first feature film was Plan B, which was presented at a number of film festivals (Buenos Aires, Rome, London). But it was with the film Ausente (Absent) that he won "Best feature film" for what the judging committee said was "an original screenplay, an innovative aesthetic and a sophisticated approach, which creates dynamism. A unique combination of homoerotic desire, suspense and dramatic tension."

Producer

Alberto Masliah, David Matamoros, ángeles Hernández

Writer

Marco Berger

Cinematographer

Mariano De Rosa

Cast

Lautaro Bettoni
Javier Oran
Ailin Salas

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The Astronaut Lovers (Los amantes astronautas) (EN)116 minutes

SPANISH • ENGLISH ST | In this stellar coming-of-bisexuality tale, childhood acquaintances—gay Pedro and questioning Maxi— meet again as young men in Buenos Aires, pretending to be lovers in an increasingly lustful subterfuge. Assumptions upended about how this dynamic will progress: who desires who more and whose guardrails will go up first. As Maxi (Lautaro Bettoni) teases, his derrière resembles an “albino penguin”—everyone stares. Though Pedro (Javier Orán) undoubtedly wants to, he calls Maxi out on his not-so-veiled come-ons. What does Maxi really want? To move fast and break things? Or is he the romantic he insists he is, tired of being used for “space flight(s)”? As these two formidable planets enter one another’s gravity, they may or may not be falling for one another. Opposing prospects that neither seems prepared to handle. The Astronaut Lovers has the hallmarks of Marco Berger’s homoerotic Horseplay (I+N35, 2022): frank discussions, tested preferences, and lots of skin. But here, the ever-present threat of violence is replaced by the possibility of fulfillment, a mature examination of sexuality occurring between the lines of flirty, immature games. Berger’s film is a blast of horniness and astronomical romance.

Feature

The Astronaut Lovers (Los amantes astronautas) (EN)116 minutes