Next, Colineales sweeps audiences to 1971, with Jose Raul Corres and Isela De Hoyas co-directing this period. Annie (Patricia Corres) and Nathan (Avery Merrifield) view the chaos of the world around them very differently. Annie continues with her model photography as a way to escape. Nathan protests everything to the point where it seems to be his job. Is their love for each other enough to carry on this relationship, or will their reactions to the social climate tear them apart?
This ultimately is the weakest of the three timeframes. Corres and Merrifield do what they can, but their characters don’t make sense together. Outside of physical attraction, what Annie and Nathan see in each other is a total blank. Not to say there are no good scenes, as a dialogue about a protest turned violent that morphs into an exchange about their future could well be the best thing in the movie. But, unfortunately, that is not enough to make this work.
What’s most frustrating is that Colineales is only 78 minutes long. Adding a few more scenes to strengthen areas would only push the runtime to 90 minutes, if that. This includes the ultimate wrap-up, which does not work as intended. There are not enough scenes of these individuals at the end to understand how they ended up where they are. Yes, the drama plays loose with time, which isn’t the problem. The issue is whether or not everyone watching should feel happy about how things end up or not.
“…looks beautiful…”
Not helping matters is how direct a parallel is drawn through all three timelines. When one couple has a very serious talk, the next scene will be of another having a strikingly similar conversation. It all becomes repetitive as the story structure robs any tension or stakes for each couple. It also kind of makes it seem like the apartment itself is haunted and actively trying to break Pilar, Emiliano, Lisa, Oliver, Annie, and Nathan up. Undoubtedly, this is not the filmmakers’ intent, but a strong case could be made that this is what’s happening.
However, director of photography JD Macias lens it all with great aplomb. The film looks beautiful, with different color schemes making each year instantly recognizable and distinguishable. Christopher Villarreal’s score is immaculate, perfectly capturing each scene’s mood. The technical aspects never miss a beat, even when the dialogue and plotting do.
Colineales is filled with some dynamic performances from a talented cast. The music and cinematography are sumptuous and sweepingly romantic. It is just too bad the writing is all over the place. Due to how strongly each year resembles the other, storywise, there are few surprises to be had. Plus, some scenes don’t make sense, thanks to things explicitly said or a lack of context. Still, this drama shows a lot of promise, and a subsequent movie to any of the people involved here are attached to could be the realization of that promise.
Colineales screened at the 2023 SF Indie Film Festival.
"…shows a lot of promise..."
