Leaf Blower

Handsome, brooding Rubén (Alejandro Guerrero), big personality Lucas (Fabrizio Santini) and shy, burly Emilio (Paco Rueda) are best pals on their way home from soccer practice, when Lucas inadvertently loses his keys in a pile of leaves. This small, everyday incident sets the stage for director/co-writer Alejandro Iglesias Mendizábal’s charming, sweet and easy-going first feature. As the boys dive into the search for the missing keys, an unabashed, reflective and wistful paean to teenage male friendship unfolds. Broken out into nine chapters, each introduced by a quirky onscreen drawing and chapter title (one delightfully entitled “Potato Bug”), Leaf Blower endearingly paints a cinematic portrait of youthful camaraderie, hormonal angst and the art of hanging out. Rife with wonderful dialogue and relatable situations, and boasting breakout performances by the three leads, this slice-of-life dramedy is also a humorous and touching account of boys on the cusp of adulthood, who, over the course of an afternoon, take their first modest, but significant steps toward becoming men. —Tim Sika