Olmo

For all its impressive attention to culturally-specific details, you don’t need to be Hispanic, from New Mexico, or a child of the ’80s to appreciate the film. All you need is some cringe-inducing memories of your early teenage years. In other words, Olmo is truly universal.

Spare, minimalist treatment, compassion and wry, deadpan humour define this story about the tragicomic efforts of the titular teenager to make his way, against all the odds, to a party.

[Eimbcke's] fourth feature unfolds with the warm glow of a memory piece but none of the gooey sentimentality.

It’s a beautifully directed and acted coming-of-age story that deserves to find a wider audience. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another twelve years for Eimbcke’s next film.

The casting is pitch-perfect, capturing both the love — and the tension — in a household where Mexican immigrant parents address their children in Spanish and receive answers from their Mexican American children in English.

Authenticity is the greatest strength of “Olmo,” although it is sometimes a crutch to the film’s meandering pace.

This chronicle of a self-absorbed teenager learning to step outside his own world may be familiar in its broad outlines, but Fernando Eimbcke’s maturity and lack of judgment imbues it with a warmth that makes it feel fresh.