Aristotle and Dante movie review: queer angst with no edge

Each team responsible for a film adaptation of a book has to make difficult decisions. But one of the trickiest elements is taking a book that’s very much embedded in a character’s head and putting those moments on screen in an interesting way. In order to capture the authors’ thoughts, voiceovers only get you so far.

That’s the chief challenge in adapting a book like Aristotle Discovers the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s 2012 YA queer coming-of-age novel, which soars on the page because of the main character’s internal monologue. The film version from Hara Kiri director and writer Aitch Alberto stumbles a bit in conveying the book’s adolescent angst and poignant longing, often feeling like a collection of snapshots instead of one cohesive movie. The film is carried by the actors and each scene has a strong impact, even though the longing of the novel cannot be captured.

[Ed. note: This post contains some spoilers for the movie’s setup.]

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Aristotle Discovers the Secrets of the UniverseAristotle is played by Max Pelayo, but he prefers the name Ari. He’s a brooding, lonely teenage boy who by chance meets cheerful, self-assured Dante (Reese Gonzales) one summer at the pool. In spite of their differences, the boys strike up a fast friendship that’s threatened by various roadblocks, including Ari’s internalized self-loathing, Dante’s family moving to Chicago, a terrible car accident, and the conflict between Dante’s self-assuredness about his own sexuality and Ari’s hesitance. Mostly, though, the movie is about Ari’s process of learning to accept himself.

Aristotle’s book is a great read. Considerations. He is very thoughtful. He’s plagued by nightmares, and he ruminates on what those nightmares might mean. He jots down his thoughts in his journal, all the things he’s too scared to say out loud. This is not reflected in the film version. To his credit, Pelayo does pull off Ari’s quiet-yet-lonely, brooding-yet-awkward characterization, with his occasional aching voice-over acting as a stand-in for the book’s reveries and journal entries. The movie does a good job of highlighting Ari’s loneliness.

But it sands off his deeper self-hatred, which stems from a myriad of factors in his life — among them his love for Dante, which he vehemently denies for the majority of the story. This self-criticism and Ari’s refusal to let himself be loved fuels most of his poignant longing, but that never entirely surfaces in the movie, which doesn’t clearly realize the deep pining between the two boys.

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It’s understandable that Alberto glosses over some of these more internal struggles. The weeks Ari spends in a hospital bed, resenting the gratitude Dante’s family shows him after he saves his friend from a speeding car, wouldn’t really make for compelling movie scenes. So those moments are streamlined, even though in the book, they’re vital in hammering home Ari’s disconnect from the people around him. The result is a more cinematic experience, but one that doesn’t entirely clarify the wedge between the two friends, so Ari’s brusque and hostile reactions seem out of place.

That isn’t the only tension Alberto fast-tracks for the movie. The events feel to be moving faster and quicker, like they are a series of snapshots that flit from point A to B. The story moves along quickly, but the more profound feelings are lost. When a dramatic emotional event occurs, the film moves quickly to the next scene, never lingering on the emotions. Pelayo and Gonzales have great chemistry and embody the characters well. Their connection is believable, though Ari’s turbulent expression of it sometimes feels jarring without his internal monologue to justify it.

Individual scenes of the film Aristotle and Dante Uncover the Secrets of the Universe The words are beautiful, and full of that longing which defines the book. Ari drifts through life as an outsider, only really himself when he’s with Dante, but never fully able to open his heart to his friend. The scenes are awash in emotion, but without examining the consequences, the story floats as far away as the desert stars.

Aristotle & Dante Uncover the Secrets of the UniverseThe movie will be released on September 8.