WFG RATING: B+

Breaking Glass Pictures presents a Proimagenes Colombia film. Written and directed by Steven Morales Pineda. Produced by Steven Morales Pineda, Grace Morales Pineda, and Gabriel Gonzalez Rodriguez. Cinematography by Andres Sotomayor.

Stars Luis Mario Jimenez, Oscar Salazar, Jhonatan Yerena, Braian V. Aburaad, Clarissa Cuadros, Lizeth Jimenez, and Rafael Moreno. \

A young man comes to grips with both himself and his past in this very tension filled drama from Steven Morales Pineda.

Jacobo is a young gay man who has had a troubled childhood. He seems to have lost his grip on the realization that things have changed in his life. He decides to go back to his family’s beach home and take a vacation there. During his trip, he meets Erasmo and begins a relationship with him. However, when he goes to the beach one day, he is shocked to find someone he never imagined seeing again.

He runs into Jose Luis, a Catholic priest who is contemplating leaving the Church due to some incidents from his past. Jacobo remembers Jose Luis as the one who had assaulted him as a kid and at first, he is standoffish. However, as he learns more about the priest, the two slowly begin a bond that can make or break his life forever. Things will soon get worse when Jacobo learns his mom is planning to sell the beach house, leaving him at a crossroads in his life.

Told in four chapters if you will, this is quite an intriguing LGBTQ drama from Colombia that revolves around overcoming your past and confronting said past. However, in most cases, the confrontation of past trauma leads to a massive confrontation. Yet, writer and director Steven Morales Pineda does something a little different in terms of our protagonist confronting his past.

Jacobo is well played by Luis Mario Jimenez, who finds himself conflicted with how his past not only defines who he has become, but how it affects his relationships. He feels like an outcast who tends to be berated by his mother and while he does find temporarily happiness with Erasmo, there is something missing it seems. The beach is his place of solitude, where he can be free to be alone.

Oscar Salazar is great as the very conflicted Jose Luis, whose past actions question whether he wants to continue following the Word of God. A priest who reads the Bible constantly, he is the one responsible for Jacobo’s fractured life but now that they are both adults, Jacobo tends to begin to have feelings for his former accuser. When Jacobo tries to explain his feelings, he is met with resistance by Jose Luis, who has a sense of self-penance for his past actions. I was quite surprised with its ending as it looks to go one way and takes a different route.

Salt Water is a very tense and emotional drama about confronting your past and finding yourself through that confrontation. Luis Mario Jimenez and Oscar Salazar shine in the main roles and the dramatic effect works well here.

The film is now available on Digital from Breaking Glass Pictures.