4 Moons

Mexican filmmaker Sergio Tovar Velarde's uneven drama divides its narrative among four separate sets of characters who are caught up in various complications within gay relationships. Of the quartet, the most interesting involves an aging, married poet (Alonso Echánove) who yearns for sex with a male prostitute shortly before receiving an honor for his lifetime of writing. Less compelling are stories about a longtime couple undergoing a brutal breakup; a pair of childhood friends who find one another again in college and begin exploring their true feelings; and a young boy who develops sexual curiosity over a male cousin. Velarde pours on the usual heartache and romantic conflict, but the material rises above formula in some moments, such as traditional-minded parents struggling to reconcile themselves to having a gay son. Optional. (T. Keogh)