Stanley – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Stanley buries the lead with sex and ends before you feel it gets to the good part.
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Stanley buries the lead with sex and ends before you feel it gets to the good part.
| Director(s) | Paulo Roberto |
| Screenplay By | Paulo Roberto |
| Date Released (Digital) | 1/22/2021 |
| Genre(s) | Drama, Romance, Young Adult, LGBT, Non-English |
| Duration | 20 Minutes |
| Rating | Rated R |
| Noted Cast | |
| Alex | Aelson Felinto |
| Anderson | Rafael Guedes |
| Camila | Lais Lacerda |
This content contains pertinent spoilers. Also, images and text may contain affiliate links, which, if a purchase is made, we’ll earn money or products from the company.
Film Summary
Thanks to mutual friend Camila, Anderson and Alex reconnect after dancing with Camila through the night. Previously, they just went to church with one another, with Alex being close with Anderson’s brother. However, together, at a lake, the two form their own bond. One that begins as sexual but, with Alex asking questions, so comes the threat of what he thought could be long term getting cut short.
Things To Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered
- Reason(s) for Film Rating: Implied or actual killing of an animal (specifically a chicken) and a potentially penetrative sex scene.
- Jump Scares/ Laughs/ Tear-Jerking Moments: N/A
- Being that, for most of the actors, their names aren’t said to identify them, and their IMDB page doesn’t have images, their names are based on the cast list in the credits.
Cast & Characters
Alex
Alex is simply trying to be a good son, play his guitar, and have fun.
Anderson
Anderson is a former protestant whose brother knew Alex well and is what connects the two. However, mention of his name could also drive them apart.
Camila
Camila is Alex and Anderson’s friend who may help kill chickens to make a living.
Review
On The Fence
It Ends Just When It Gets Started
Our issue with Stanley is that it spends more time showing you Alex’s home and part of his life, than anything of notable substance. If, to be kinder, anything which feels important to the story. For outside of establishing Alex is a good boy, showing him run errands for his mother and playing guitar, what does that add here?
Heck, even for Camila, beyond showing what she might do for work, what is her story? And I get this is a short, and that means having certain expectations. But in its 20-minute timespan, so much time feels wasted, and then suddenly you’re watching two guys have what might be penetrative sex, and it feels like things finally begin.
Yet, with the mic drop of what happened to the title character, Stanley, things abruptly end with you assuming why they did for Stanley.
Overall
Rating: Mixed (Divisive)
We honestly wish that everything before the sex scene was chopped, and we got Alex and Anderson having sex, and then that weird interaction where you barely know someone, hooked up with them, and now are getting to know them. That story many who have used dating apps know too well of doing everything in reverse. Because what Stanley delivers feels too much like it buried the lead, and while the mic drop gets your attention, it sucks that the hook doesn’t come until the end.
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