You'll Never Be Alone (2016) User Reviews

Captivating & Brutal at first ...then NOTHING!!!

[JJ-Chi · 5/10 · 17 February 2021]

The movie has a great start; the central character is brilliantly protrayed, but after the BRUTAL attack (which is difficult to watch) ...it goes nowhere. Following the tragic event (during the first 30 minutes), nothing really happens. We hope for some closure and justice ...but NO!!

In the end, you're simply left empty. Wondering how some can have so little regard for human life ...and how others stand idly by unwilling to help.

So Much Left Untold

[dmoorejdrf · 4/10 · 26 May 2021]

This movie barely scratched the surface of telling what could've been a brilliant story. This film presented viewers with complex characters, perhaps too many! The audience needed back stories on these characters and what led them to the incident with Pablo whose own character needed to be flushed out. WAY too much time was devoted to the dad's anguish over what happened to his son. You can only watch someone mope around for so long. The rage he felt should've led to consequences, but what we got was a weak conversation with one of the perpetrators. It also seemed that there was more time devoted to the failing mannequin factory than the hospitalized son and justice for Pablo. I do believe this could've been a 10 star movie, but it just never developed the steam to get it there.

In 2019 Chile "exploded socially" ... Here is part of the explanation

[fabiog-26-358885 · 9/10 · 26 April 2021]

This movie goes beyond the LGBT issue. It is a dark look at the culture and the political system of current Chile. The one that leaves this family abandoned is the state, its extremely liberal capitalist system, the health insurers and their empty promises. Even people, increasingly individualistic, living only to work. Even her best friend abandoned Pablo, she ran away. Neighbors, family, are not present or are part of the problem. Pablo and his father are still denied the right to live, if he does not pay, if he is old. And it is also a homophobic society. This film is one of those that addresses the national trauma that affected Chile after the famous Zamudio case, but it does so in a broader way. It is useful to understand, a little better, the social outbreak of Chile at the end of 2019. I hope that a better Constitution will come out that guarantees better rights to the people in general and to minorities in particular (ethnic groups, sexual orientations, gender identity, etc.) .

A messy script with some touching moments.

[him090296 · 14 April 2021]

Summary: Introverted Juan, the manager of the mannequin factory, lives alone with his 18-year-old gay son Pablo. While Pablo enjoys studying dance, Juan expects his boss to consider him a partnership after spending 25 years in the company. When Pablo is seriously injured in a brutal homophobic attack that witnesses him hospitalized, his father realizes how far away they are. The shortage of witnesses and expensive medical bills force Juan to forever leave the quiet stability of his life and change his place in a world of discrimination. His efforts continue to be useless until one night on the streets of Santiago set his own rules to save his son.

Review: Being gay and poor seem like death sentence in Chile. There are two pivotal scenes that I can appreciate in this movie. The first is the brutal assault by three of his neighbors, including his secret lover. The second is two explicit sex scenes. Those scenes look so realistic. However, after that tragic incident, the darkness of most of the father's scenes made this movie goes nowhere. The script fell apart as the story turned into his fragility, leaving no essence or significance at all, which unfortunately it didn't make me cry or even feel compassion for him.