MQFF Presents: Midsumma Movies - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Adapted from Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s beloved, Stonewall Book Award-winning YA novel, this delightful coming-of-age romantic drama tracks the burgeoning friendship between Aristotle (Max Pelayo) and Dante (Reese Gonzales), two Mexican-American teenage outsiders growing up in El Paso, Texas, and contesting a range of social and ethnocultural expectations, in the late 1980s.

Aristotle is full of resentment, wanting nothing so much as to blend in with the world around him – that is, until he meets Dante, whose unslakable curiosity for all that the universe has to offer proves infectious, allowing Aristotle to come out of his shell and embrace life to the fullest. But... can their intense bond, forged during a memorable summer, survive a year apart?

Aside from the breakout performances of its two young leads, you’ll relish supporting turns from Eugenio Derbez, Eva Longoria, Veronica Falcón and Kevin Alejandro. Writer-director Aitch Alberto – the first trans filmmaker to appear in Variety’s annual “10 Directors to Watch” list in 2021 – took seven years to realise the beautiful Aristotle and Dante, in which time she secured the author’s express blessing and, herself, transitioned, doubtless informing the authenticity of the emotional growing pains her glorious film is steeped in.

2022, USA, 98 mins, M
English and Spanish with English subtitles
Dir: Aitch Alberto
Courtesy: Kismet Movies
Victorian premiere