If reliving high school memories dredges up feelings of anxiety instead of euphoric nostalgia,You Were My First Boyfriendwill likely be a profoundly relatable film. HBO has dropped a trailer forthe hybrid documentaryfrom filmmakers Cecilia Aldarondo and Sarah Enid Hagey that begs the question: What if you could rewrite your adolescence? The documentary follows co-director Aldarondo as she reflects on moments from her teenage years she’s carried with her throughout her life. She reenacts those haunting moments in certain scenes, portraying a teenager alongside a cast of actual teens. She calls these reenactments an “emotional exorcism,” but will the result of this exercise be cathartic?
Check out the trailer forYou Were My First Boyfriendbelow:
You Were My First Boyfriendtravels between Aldarondo’s teenage years in the 1990s (when she wanted badly to fall in love and adapted to whoever she thought her crushes wanted her to be) and the present time, as Aldarondo nervously awaits her high school reunion.
Aldarondo began working on the film in 2016, which premiered in the Documentary Feature Competitionat the SXSW Film Festival in March. It is executive produced by Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Sara Rodriguez, with Aldarondo and Ines Hofmann Kanna producing. Alongside the filmmakers, the cast also includes Trinity Soos, Hannah Whipple, Xander Black, Maya Karp, Ella Marie Fraley, Delanie Nicole Gill, Erica Kaylee Gouldthorpe, Isabella Rivera Gandulla, and Cole Donaldson. You can also check out the poster below:
The hybriddocumentaryis Aldarondo’s third feature following 2016’sMemories of a Penitent Heartand 2019’sLandfall, both co-produced by the award-winning PBS seriesPOV. The latter documentary examines the tense relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and was the recipient of DOC NYC’s Viewfinders Grand Jury Prize.
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Looking Back at Teenage Misfits in Film
FromCarrietoLady Birdand beyond, not exactly fitting in during high school has been a theme explored by some of the greatest filmmakers of our time. In 1976, Brian de Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’sCarrie focused on recluse teenager Carrie White (Sissy Spacek), whose naïveté and strange home life drew ridicule from classmates. After Carrie is asked to prom and a snarky classmate pulls the ultimate mean girl prank, Carrie unleashes her power of telekinesis, and all hell breaks loose.
While that may not be the most realistic portrayal of navigating a difficult adolescence, other filmmakers,like John Hughes, opted for a more optimistic approach. Hughes' cult classic filmThe Breakfast Clubfollows five very different high schoolers who all find themselves together in Saturday morning detention. As the day passes, they all learn that there’s more to each of them than meets the eye. In Howard Deutch’sPretty in Pink(written by Hughes) Molly Ringwald plays a misfit who falls in love with a popular kid from the other side of the tracks.
When using telekinetic powers for destruction or talking through your differences won’t work (or maybe it’s just too late for all of that), revisiting the moments that haunt you and striving to make peace with them, like Aldarondo does inYou Were My First Boyfriend,might prove to be healing. If that doesn’t work either, well…you can always try getting a makeover.
You Were My First Boyfrienddebuts Wednesday, November 8 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
