Age-blind casting (the same actors appear unchanged in flashbacks) is just one of the elements that makes this delicate debut from Lucio Castro so jolting.
In Barcelona, brooding Argentinian poet, Ocho (Juan Barberini) hooks up with breezy Spaniard, Javi (Ramon Pujol) and, later that day, there’s a revelation concerning the past, which hinges on the year 1999 and Javi’s Kiss T-shirt.
After that, things get curiouser and curiouser. At one point, Ocho walks around with a toddler, looking like a Love Island contestant who’s just been told to cuddle a plastic doll. If you enjoy the short stories of Borges, you’ll appreciate the mischievous attitude to poetry and time (nothing’s sacred). And the two leads seem genuinely hot for each other. No wonder End of the Century has been compared to Weekend and Call Me by Your Name.
In the film’s most jubilant sequence, the couple dance, with electrically casual grace, to A Flock of Seagulls’ Space Age Love Song. Lost In Translation made The Jesus and Mary Chain popular all over again. Who knows, maybe, in a parallel universe — or even ours — the Score brothers are about to enjoy a second pop at fame.
