SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! Sex and love are examined in the dramedy Confesiones Chin Chin, from writer-director Carolina Perelman. Set in Madrid, Spain, at the Cazador bar, the film tells an interconnected story of vignettes about its patrons’ love lives and ambitions, all based on real-life events.
Lolo (Fernando Bodega) is an actor in search of his big break, and he receives guidance from the bartender, Vicente (Enrique Gimeno). Vicente knows a director who is screening a documentary at the Cannes Film Festival, and the subject is Roberto (Nacho Scorza), a temperamental artist. As the bartender tells the actor about the filmmaker, Roberto vents at his agent for failing to get him a spot at a local gallery. Lolo witnesses Roberto’s stubbornness, cynicism, and spirited behavior in a screener of the documentary. He behaves this way because his parents outcast him, and his father disapproves of his eccentricities and homosexuality. Simultaneously, he is rude to his roommate, a saxophone-playing doctor.
Later that night, Lolo catches up with his friends. He asks Sofia (Ángela Aguilar) about her marriage. She reveals that she secretly befriended another woman online during the 2020 lockdown. Sofia lives an unfulfilling marriage to her husband (Samuel Rotter), and in a dreamlike sequence, she has a passionate sex life with her lesbian lover (Monica Umbral).
“…patrons’ love lives and ambitions, all based on real-life events.”
Perelman takes a humanist approach when visualizing the intense emotions of the leads, making Confesiones Chin Chin applicable to a wide audience. The director and co-writer, Samuel Rotter, succeed in depicting the protagonists as complex individuals who refuse to be labeled by their sexual identity. Corza is fantastic, bringing a level of visceral intensity to Roberto. Aguilar has a distinct presence onscreen with her combination of melancholy and girl-next-door appeal.
The screenplay has the spontaneity of a Damien Chazelle film with snappy and personable dialogue. Pedro Fraguela’s jazz-inspired score is pleasant and livens up the earthy vibes. The cinematography has a golden 1970s texture due to the exceptional work of Alejandro Iodice, Alván Prado, and Jordan Tetewsky.
Confesiones Chin Chin adds a new perspective to the human experience, thanks to Perelman’s filmmaking prowress. Get a drink at the Cazador and experience life through fresh eyes.
Confesiones Chin Chin screened at the 2025 Slamdance Film Festival.
"…adds a new perspective to the human experience..."
