Una Noche

Feverish, gripping, and teaming with youthful energy, Una Noche is a remarkably affecting compression of one frenetic day and one mala night in the lives of three Cuban teenagers desperate to break free of their oppressive situations. The setting is the crumbling, vibrant streets of contemporary Havana, which features colorful building facades, 50-year-old cars, seawalls, and impoverished denizens. Hot-blooded Elio (Javier Núñez Florián), twin sister Lila (Anailín de la Rúa de la Torre), and their friend, Raul (Dariel Arrechaga), race around the city in preparation for a 90-mile seaborne escape to Miami and the promise of bueno fortune in America. Their getaway plan becomes more urgent with the police on Raul's trail for assaulting a tourist. The perspective alternates amongst the three as they rush through the thrumming alleys and avenues in the oppressive heat, bartering or stealing supplies to make a slapdash tire-tube and wood raft that will take them away from their wretched destinies. A steamy sexuality surges beneath their interactions—along with a fair amount of humor—all captured with zest and urgency by New York filmmaker Lucy Mulloy in this solid portrait of disaffected youth looking for a new start. Recommended. (T. Fry)