The first trailer for Sundance NEXT Audience Award winner, “I Carry You With Me” teases a heartbreaking love story across borders and an innovative format.
In the trailer for Heidi Ewing‘s film, Iván (Armando Espitia) and Gerardo (Christian Vazquez) fall in love after a chance meeting in Mexico in the mid-90s, but they quickly realize that a love story like theirs isn’t commonplace, and not accepted by everyone. You see, Iván cleans a local restaurant for a living while trying to support the mother of his child, but he’s never let go of his dream of one day becoming a chef. Gerardo is a teacher, and unlike Iván, he’s is an out, gay man.
Their relationship not only faces prejudices from their very religious culture, but it gets even more complicated once Iván decides to cross the border and fulfill his dream of becoming a chef. Based on a true story, Oscar-nominated documentarian Heidi Ewing follows the two men as they try to make their relationship work, and as they face homophobia, as well as political and immigration issues.
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Our own Gregory Ellwood reviewed the film following its Sundance debut. He wasn’t impressed by some changes in the narrative in the second half of the movie, writing “Ewing makes a creative decision in the final act of the picture which simply sucks all the air out of the room.” Let’s just say that the film takes a much more grounded and real approach that takes advantage of Ewing’s background doing documentaries. Though our reviewer wasn’t enamored by the switch, it will still be interesting to see how “I Carry You With Me” works as two different movies in one.
Sony Pictures Classics is set to release “I Carry You With Me” on January 8.