Set in early 90s Cuba, Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s coming-of-age drama, Los Frikis, is centered around a group of punk rockers who are in search of freedom. In 1961, Fidel Castro banned rock music in Cuba, but that didn’t stop youngsters from exploring the music behind closed doors. The anti-communist rock and roll lovers found their safe haven in underground clubs where they met like-minded people and played music. The scarcity of food and housing and the overall lack of free will pushed many youngsters to the edge. The AIDS epidemic was on the rise, and when the youngsters discovered that the sanitariums provided food and shelter, they wondered if getting sick was the only option they had left to live a dignified life.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Gustavo fake his illness?
Gustavo’s only family was his older brother, Paco, after their father was shot for disobeying the authorities. They worked at the sugarcane farm like their father, and every day they regretted being born in Cuba. Their only source of joy was rock and roll music that was technically banned, but they managed to listen to it by adjusting the frequency of the radio. They tried to make do with whatever little they had, but on some days the hunger was impossible to bear, and they ended up killing stray cats to keep themselves going. Unlike Gustavo, who was empathetic and lenient, Paco was strong-willed and could go to any extent for survival. Their uncle planned on illegally making it to Miami through the water route, but he refused to take Paco along with them. He believed Paco’s ill temper would land them in trouble, and he only offered Gustavo the chance to move to the United States. Paco was devastated, but he was happy for his younger brother and encouraged him to accept the opportunity. Since Paco didn’t have any family except Gustavo, he decided to inject himself with HIV-positive blood so that he would be allowed to stay at the local sanitarium. Gustavo thought it was a terrible idea, but Paco thought it was better to be free for a few days than caged for his entire life. He also believed that a cure would soon be discovered and he would survive, but until then he would do the one thing he loved—make music. Gustavo had boarded the makeshift boat to Miami, but the vessel was leaky. Gustavo sacrificed his dream of moving to the United States so that the others could survive. He also could not imagine leaving his brother behind, and he decided to follow in Paco’s footsteps. He injected himself with HIV-positive blood, but to his surprise, his reports came back negative. The doctor at the facility grew suspicious of Gustavo’s intentions, so he directly asked the young man why he was so hellbent on getting a positive result. When Gustavo explained his desperation to be reunited with his brother, the doctor sympathized with him and offered him a fake certificate. Gustavo was sent to the same sanitarium as Paco, and he was overjoyed when he saw his older brother standing before him.
How did life at the sanitarium turn tragic?
Paco experienced the freedom that he’d always craved at the sanitarium. Since the authorities were afraid of contracting AIDS, there was no military presence at the sanitarium, and the place was run by Maria, a volunteer. Paco and his band members (all injected) performed regularly for their audience, and their music was appreciated. Everyone contributed to making the place sustainable, and they had a strong sense of community. Las Frikas were harshly judged and mistreated in the world outside, and the sanitarium had become their safe haven. The place was also queer-friendly, offering a sense of comfort to those who’d been ostracized all their lives. Gustavo chose to hide the truth from his brother, fearing that he would not be well accepted there and he might also end up in prison if word got out. Maria figured out that Gustavo was not HIV positive, and she initially planned on forcing him out of the sanitarium. But Gustavo refused to leave; he didn’t have a home or a family outside, and he was not ready to bid Paco goodbye. Maria sympathized with Gustavo. She had also fallen in love with him in the four months that he’d been there, and she decided to keep the truth a secret. Maria volunteered to work at the sanitarium to look after her brother, and even after his death, she continued to serve the victims of AIDS. She was previously married, but she and her husband eventually separated. She never thought she would find love in an eighteen-year-old, but life was full of surprises.
Life was going good for Gustavo; he had started his band, HIV+, with his buddy Nestor, he’d found love, he didn’t have to kill to survive, and he could just be the wild child that he was. Things took a turn after a patient, Maximo’s demise. The fact that there was no remedy for the disease and that it was life-threatening had become very real. Most of the punk rockers at the sanitorium assumed that once they bypassed the flu-like symptoms, they would survive and eventually get access to the cure and live a long life. But unfortunately, the reality was nothing like they’d imagined. Their girlfriends too got infected as a result, and Paco was devastated when he learned that his lover, Yoslin, was pregnant, and if the authorities found out about it, she would be forced to go through an abortion. Paco realized in that moment that he had ruined not only his future but also that of his girlfriend and his unborn child. When a doctor arrived at the sanitorium and suggested that hyperthermia might be a possible cure for AIDS, Paco readily volunteered to participate in the trial. Unfortunately, according to the results of the trial, hyperthermia treatment had accelerated Paco’s symptoms, and he was weaker than before. More and more people in Cuba were getting infected with AIDS, and there were not enough sanitoriums to shelter them. Gradually the government planned on letting the patients live with their families, and only those without a caregiver could live at the specialized centers. While the punk rockers had wanted freedom, they didn’t realize how painful death would be. They were helpless in a way, and they did what they thought would bring them a momentary sense of joy.
Why did Gustavo confess the truth to Paco?
Gustavo was heartbroken when he woke up one day to find Maria missing. Paco explained that Maria and Yoslin had left. Maria had taken Yoslin to Havana to try a new treatment. Yoslin was too afraid to tell Paco about it, fearing that he might try to stop her. Both the brothers lost the women they’d fallen in love with, and they had no one but each other for support. Maria was Gustavo’s first love, and in that moment he perhaps felt he would not manage to live without her. The painting Maximo had gifted Gustavo made sense all of a sudden—he had painted Gustavo and the wild horse he’d tamed, but to the young man’s surprise, there were blood spots on the paper. The blood possibly symbolized the inescapable death. Even though Gustavo had managed to build a better life for himself at the sanitorium, death was lingering in the corner waiting to ruin the most beautiful time of his life. The people he loved, his roommate Nestor, his brother, and his lover, were gradually drifting away from him, and he didn’t know how to stop it. Maybe Maria wanted Gustavo to live his life beyond the sanitarium; that could possibly have also been one of the reasons behind her decision to leave. He was young and full of potential; she didn’t wish love to be his only reason to never venture out of the safe space. Six months had passed, and Maria was replaced by an indifferent soldier. The sanitarium was not what it used to be; reality had caught up with the place, and the hope that once kept everyone on their toes had completely dissipated. A sense of gloom dominated the space, and the residents waited for death to embrace them. When Gustavo noticed a twelve-year-old join the sanitarium, he was reminded of his early days. The young boy was ecstatic to have his own bed, and the promise of three meals a day was enough to bring a smile to his face. Just like Gustavo, he too had injected himself. Gustavo wanted to tell him that the grass was no greener here, but he didn’t wish to snatch the little hope that the boy was holding onto. To escape the socialist lifestyle, youngsters were ready to risk their lives in the hopes that maybe they’d survive and at least they could avoid intensive labor for a few years and get all the nourishment their bodies needed.
In Los Frikis’s ending, Gustavo and Paco visited the beach. The little one told his brother that he’d lied about being HIV+ and that he was nothing but a poser. He also mentioned his affair with Maria and Paco was pleasantly surprised. He didn’t expect Gustavo to lie, but at the same time, he was glad that at least his brother would survive. He thought Gustavo was the ultimate Friki for hiding such an important detail and for having a passionate affair with Maria, even though everyone thought she was beyond his reach. Paco was not an easy person to be with, but for Gustavo he was a perfect brother who had always been there for him. Paco promised Gustavo that he would be okay and that death was inevitable for him. He had neither the money to move to the United States nor faith in Castro’s vision; all he could do was live a little while he still could. That was exactly what Paco did. The ending of Los Frikis hints at Paco’s death; he disappeared in the sea, and we get the idea that in death he found freedom. The final scene also suggests the loneliness that Gustavo had to cope with.
Around 200-500 Cubans are estimated to have intentionally injected themselves with HIV during the 1990s, and a large number of them were Frikis. After immense pressure from Los Frikis, Fidel Castro relaxed his ban on rock and roll. Los Frikis is both a tragedy and a story of resilience.
