''Young & Wild'' () is a 2012 Chilean

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by Marialy Rivas and co-written by Marialy Rivas, Camila Gutiérrez, María José Viera-Gallo and Pedro Peirano. Starring Alicia Rodríguez and Maria Gracia Omegna, the film tells the story of Daniela, a 17-year-old bisexual girl who writes a blog about the conflicts she experiences between her

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, conservative family and her sexuality. The film premiered at the

2012 Sundance Film Festival The 2012 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 until January 29, 2012 in Park City, Utah. 64 short films were selected for the festival from 7,675 submissions, including 27 international shorts from 3,592 submissions. Non-competitio ...

where it was awarded the World Cinema Screenwriting Award.

Plot

Daniela is a 17-year-old girl who resides in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Chile. Despite her family's devout

beliefs, she eagerly explores her sexuality through both casual sex and a blog titled "Young and Wild". The blog serves as a platform where she questions her church's teachings and documents her sexual adventures, including her first experiences with masturbation, oral sex, and anal sex. As her blog gains popularity, it attracts comments from people ranging from supportive to gossipy, and even some who outright proposition her for sex. Following an incident where she is caught having sex with another student, Daniela is expelled from her conservative Christian school. Her mother initially does not react to the news. Daniela later learns that her beloved aunt, a bohemian and a role model for her, has been hospitalized due to cancer. While at the hospital, Daniela's aunt pleads with her mother not to send Daniela to perform grueling missionary work. As a result, Daniela takes a job as a

gofer A gofer, go-fer or gopher is an employee who specializes in the delivery of specific items to their superior(s). Examples of these items include a cup of coffee, a tool, a tailored suit, or a car. Outside of the business world, the term is use ...

at a local Christian television station, where she meets her coworkers Tomás and Antonia. Daniela finds herself immediately drawn to Tomás and begins to fantasize about him. The two start dating, but Tomás refuses to engage in premarital sexual activity. Sexually frustrated, Daniela tries to seduce him and has some degree of success. After complaining to Antonia, she is invited to a party where she briefly performs oral sex on Tomás until he stops her. As she leaves the party, Daniela whispers to Antonia that she had intended to have sex with both Tomás and her. Soon afterwards, Daniela begins a

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

affair with Antonia that Daniela documents on her blog. Daniela's parents come to trust Tomás, allowing him to spend unsupervised time with her. However, Tomás' reservations finally break down when Daniela questions his level of interest in her. The two eventually have sex, and Daniela writes on her blog about feeling torn between Antonia and Tomás, both of whom she is regularly sexually involved with. Antonia expresses displeasure with their clandestine relationship, but Daniela is unwilling to commit to only one partner. During a family dinner at a restaurant, thieves suddenly storm in, but the family's prayers cause the robbers to pass them by. This incident causes Daniela to begin questioning both her spirituality and morals. Daniela stuns both her blog readers and family when she declares her desire to be baptized. Her family is overjoyed, and her aunt arranges a baptism at a lake, the same location where her aunt had been baptized. However, Tomás discovers Daniela's blog and learns about her infidelity. Furious, he ends their relationship, while Antonia does too. Her mother angrily rebukes Daniela and hits her for her behavior. Shortly thereafter, her aunt dies, leaving Daniela with many unanswered questions, ranging from spirituality to relationships. She is not permitted to attend the funeral by her family, watching it off from the side. Daniela concludes the film with a voice-over quote from

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

, stating that she now feels lost.

Cast

Critical reception

Critics had mixed reactions to the film. Nicolas Rapold of ''The'' ''New York Times'' was unimpressed by Alicia Rodríguez' lead performance and the "insistently blanched" cinematography. On the other hand, other critics praised the portrayal of unwanted emotional conflicts emerging beyond physical relationships. Erik Childress of eFilmCritic writes: "This is a film that respects sex and the emotional consequences that follow once the heat wears off."

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' said about the film that "the ferocious effort of conservative religions to keep a tight lid on pre-marital sex is as old as history, but seeing it played out in a South American context gives it a new twist, at least onscreen."

Awards

, - , rowspan="5" , 2012 , Alicia Rodríguez , Colón de Plata award for Best Actress, Huelva Latin American Film Festival , , - , rowspan="2" , Marialy Rivas , Sebastiane Award,

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

, , - , Horizons Award,

, , - , Camila Gutiérrez, Marially Rivas, Pedro Peirano, Sebastián Sepúlveda , World Cinema Screenwriting Award,

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, , - , Marialy Rivas , Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema – Dramatic,

References

External links