Too Late to Die Young

Cert: Club; Selected cinemas

A nostalgia-dappled blush coats everything in this airy coming-of-age drama set in post-Pinochet Chile.

Sofia (Demian Hernandez) is an awkward 16-year-old who lives with her father in a commune in the Andean foothills. Surrounded by music, woodlands and other young people, things would be idyllic were it not for the fact that Sofia is at a key stage in her life. The truth is that she longs to move to the city to live with her estranged mother, but she is also finding herself drawn to rakish older boy Ignacio (Matias Oviedo) who has arrived on the scene.

Around her, there are issues with water supplies, a mystery burglar and finding herself the object of the attentions of Lucas (Antar Machado), who is eager to transcend his sibling-like relationship with the girl.

You notice throughout writer-director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo’s film that not a great deal seems to happen and yet you remain locked on to its meditative motions. Even if the human characters seem to stay in third gear, there is rich symbolism swirling about them in the shape of missing animals, fire risks, and music. If you give into the overall vibe, it is a rewarding experience, one that strikes quite rare registers without seeming to try very hard.

There is, however, a possibility that Too Late To Die Young will feel too passive and uninvolving for some, and that its floaty pace and breeze-blown characters keep you slightly at arm’s length.