Camila Comes Out Tonight

There is absolutely nothing fundamentally wrong with Camila Comes Out Tonight. It’s a solid little coming of age film. It’s got some good shots and deeper commentary. But after 400+ WLW films, I can’t say this is one I’ll remember particularly well.

Camila Comes Out Tonight follows the young Camila’s difficulties when she moves to a new school. When her grandmother falls ill, Camila’s mother moves to take care of her. So, Camila leaves her standard public school for a scholastic and religious private institution. Camila struggles with the school culture. On the cusp of womanhood, Camila bristles at the stifling and sometimes abusive attitude towards girls. In contrast to her stricter school environment, Camila begins to act out. She starts partying and experimenting with alcohol and sex. During these experimentation, she comes to realize she likes both boys and girls.

Camila’s queerness is not overly dramatic. Her first experience with a girl feels like the natural progression of her teen experimentation. Camila herself seems to feel little conflict over her attraction to women. Her coming out to her mother doesn’t go great but it’s still a huge sign of social progress. Since the mid-2010’s, queer teen films that lack a level of angst and doom about being queer have become increasingly common. Coming out narratives are on the way out. Because increasingly, coming out doesn’t provide enough drama to fuel a film. It’s great to see this same attitude has spread from European arthouse into North and South American cinema too. In Camila specifically, everything goes better than could be expected. When she comes out to her boyfriend, he’s fully happy to let her have a girl on the side.

Camila is more observer than participant in her own story. While the film’s summary highlights her anger, most of the time, Camila is simply not engaged. It’s certainly true that Camila is not the most interesting character in the film. Several of her classmates have larger personalities or more dramatic stories. I’ve seen lots of coming-of-age movies with a lead who is primarily an observer. This one falls pretty much in the middle. There’s enough story and visual quality to not make it a fully boring sit. But I’ve also seen films in this same subgenre do it much better. Personally, I would have preferred a more stylized approach to the visuals. Especially with a young protagonist, stylistic cinematography can be a great way of visually presenting their world view. Camila’s cinematography never lets you fully into Camila’s head the way the most successful of these films manage.

Camila as a character and a film is too aware of its own youth. As a character, Camila has too much wisdom and foresight to ring true to most teenagers. She has an unshakable knowledge that this period in her life will end. It makes for some good dialogue but none that is believable as a realistic teen. The film also chases youthful stylistic choices. I’d be surprised if Euphoria wasn’t an influence on the film. While all of these influences are fine and executed well, the film feels like it’s chasing youth rather than capturing it. As mentioned previously, there’s not a particularly unique style to Camila Comes Out Tonight. It’s too easy to think of other youthful media to compare it to, all of which precede Camila.

Camila Comes Out Tonight is a perfectly competent little film. I am not overly moved only because of the sheer abundance of coming-of-age queer films I’ve seen. Had I seen this film a few years earlier, I would give this a higher review. There are so many films that tread so much of the same ground as Camila Comes Out Tonight. As I said, there’s nothing wrong with the film. But it lacks the necessary elements to elevate it from a good to a great film.

Overall rating: 5.8/10

Other WLW films in similar genres