Noah Salzman’s writing and directing feature-length debut, Clocked, follows Adolfo (Germain Arroyo), a Puerto Rican living in Miami. His father, Salvador (Victor Rivera), runs a landscaping business and owns a gym. His mother, Alma (Elena Maria Garcia), seems to only care about nitpicking everything anyone does. Adolfo’s brother, Ramon (Danell Leyva), helps train the 18-year-old boxing novice in hopes that he’ll represent the U.S.A. in the Olympics one day.
Unbeknownst to his family, Adolfo harbors a great secret that is eating him up inside. The young man wishes to transition, as he “hates his body” and is saving his money for an operation. The only person who knows is Camila (Marisa Davila), a blind date-turned best friend. Adolfo becomes closer to fulfilling his dream when he visits a drag show and sees Cleo (Armand Fields) perform. The sense of freedom that those on the stage exude entrances the young man, and soon enough, he’s taken in and shown the ropes by the loving and welcoming drag performers. Will Adolofo ever reveal his true self to his family? If he does, will they understand or shun him?
Clocked has a lot of positives, but let’s get the negatives out of the way themselves. It takes until the end of the 11-minute runtime for Alma to become even the slightest bit tolerable. Until then, she’s a harpy who needs to learn how to shut up. She does nothing nor says anything worthwhile. None of Alma’s scenes give an extra dimension to Aldolfo or her relationship with him, save for her being the catalyst for him to confide in Camila. However, Garcia acts the hell out of the part, being suitably irritating from start to finish.
“Unbeknownst to his family…the young man wishes to transition…”
The other, more significant problem is the ending. The way the film concludes sidesteps the hard conversation Aldofo needs to have with his family. It’s not that the scene doesn’t work; it is quite impactful for the likable protagonist. But he says he wants to fully transition, not just perform in drag, and that is not fully explored. As such, this drama feels like it ends too soon.
Even still, Clocked works wonderfully. This is in large part due to the empathy present in the screenplay. Salzman intimately understands the struggles, mentally and physically, not fitting into one’s body takes on a person. Aldofo is never seen as a martyr but is shown confused about how to talk about what he feels. When the drag performers take him in, the sheer joy on the man’s face is undeniable. Camila’s reaction to Aldofo’s confession is an absolute highlight, as she reacts naturally. A conversation between Adolfo and his father showcases why he cannot just come out how he would like. It is a perfect moment.
Arroyo is brilliant. He’s good-natured, tough, determined, and joyous. Davila is also excellent, bringing a lot of warmth to the proceedings. Fields is equally dramatic and funny, generating a good number of chuckles throughout. Leyva excels as Adolfo’s brother. The character certainly cares for his brother but never seems to understand him fully. That is a tricky balance to strike, but the actor navigates it confidently.
Clocked is an empathetic look at how struggling with identity causes inner turmoil. While there are a few issues, they pale in comparison to all the positives on the display. The cast is fantastic from beginning to end, with Arroyo leading the charge with emotive conviction. The pacing is strong, and the whole thing exudes a heaping pile of love and understanding.
For more information, visit the Clocked Instagram page.
"…empathetic..."
