Ryan McNeil
From time to time, we build things up in the name of equality, happiness, and love. Sometimes, what we build is physical – communities, gardens, spaces of peace or worship. Other rimes, what we build is metaphysical – places in our hearts, additions to our routine.
We build these spaces of positivity in the hopes that it will make life a little more joyful for even a little while. What we forget though is how very fragile these places are despite our best efforts. How these spots are so flammable and can be reduced to cinders with the drop of one match.
TOO LATE TO DIE YOUNG is about life at a commune in 1990 Chile. The central figure to this commune story is sixteen-year-old Sofia (Demian Hernández). Her parents are separated and not rising to their full roles as caretakers. Her heart is desired by a boy named Lucas (Antar Machado) – but seems to be pulling her towards Ignacio (Matías Alejandro Oviedo). This moment in a teenage girl’s life would be intense all on its own, but take that moment and put it out in a hillside, free-spirited community…and you’re almost begging for Sofia’s heart to burst.
TOO LATE TO DIE YOUNG is a love letter back to our younger selves. From the faded colour palette to the sappy love songs, it’s a story that clearly has nostalgia on the brain. It’s not the sort of film that wants us to believe things were better “back then”. It merely wants us to look back on those moments in our adolescence that felt endless, and remember just how special those moments were.
The beating heart of this film is Demian Hernández. With such expressive features and such spritely poise, she reminds us of life at its very fullest. Whether that feeling is found driving down the countryside with the windows open, or learning how to play a power ballad on the accordion, Hernández glows like an inviting flame from scene to scene.
She is a reminder of how youth can be a messy knot of emotions – how we can feel so mixed-up and needy at the same time. Demian Hernández puts it all in her eyes, and director Dominga Sotomayor makes us look her in the eye early and often.
We burn so very brightly when we’re young.Disappointment cuts so much deeper – whether it comes from a crush or a parent. Whether the disappointment comes from the people who are supposed to care for us the most, or people we shouldn’t let ourselves care about, it hurts all the same. It makes our whole body ache, leads to lashing out or shutting down. Sometimes we can even collapse in upon ourselves while the whole world burns up around us.
TOO LATE TO DIE YOUNG is a story about a community living what they believe is the purest life, and one girl feeling the purest feelings…both for better and for worse.