Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
Cousins is a gay romantic comedy about Lucas Hantz (Paulo Sousa), a young man living with his religious aunt, Lourdes (Juliana Zancanaro). Lucas doesn’t have any friends and spends most of his time alone, which concerns Lourdes, who thinks he needs is someone his own age to hang out with and raise his spirits.
One day Lourdes informs Lucas that his aunt’s cousin’s son, Mario (Thiago Cazado), who is fresh out of prison, will be staying with them for a while. And not only that, but she has to go away on the day he arrives.
Lucas asks why Mario went to prison, but Lourdes refuses to tell him. Instead, she says he has no place to go because his father won’t let him back in the house. And when Lucas voices concern for his safety, Lourdes insists that God will watch over him and keep him safe.
When Mario arrives, Lucas finds him a bit odd. He isn’t shy about taking off his clothes and makes occasional references to homosexuality. But despite that, Lucas starts to enjoy his company. He’s also curious when Mario kisses him out of the blue.
Some Thoughts:
Cousins starts off defining Lourdes as an offbeat, overly religious woman. Zancanaro does a great job with the role, making the character relatable, sympathetic, and quirky.
Lucas doesn’t have any friends, gives music lessons out of the house, and doesn’t go anywhere. The only person interested in him is his horny music student, Julia (Duda Esteves). Julia’s antics are a bit outrageous, fluttering her eyes at Lucas and sitting on his lap. Esteves does a good job with the character, playing her to the hilt.
Because Lourdes is concerned about Lucas, it seems plausible that she would take in a troubled youth. The concern Lucas has about living with a stranger who is fresh out of prison and understandable. And when Lourdes tells Lucas that God will protect them, his reaction is just short of an eye roll, which is exactly what you would expect.
When Mario arrives, it feels as if Lucas is more curious about him than sexually attracted. Mario acts foolish enough not to feel threatening and keeps the story light while pulling Lucas out of his shell. Mario’s odd ways also allow their friendship to form.
Although the interactions between Lucas and Mario feel natural, there isn’t a lot of sexual tension. It’s obvious that Lucas is interested in Mario sexually, but the scenes where they’re close and could kiss, but don’t, aren’t played up enough.
Even though Lucas and Mario are cousins once removed, this aspect of the story may turn off some viewers. The movie would work even if Lucas and Mario weren’t cousins, so I’m not sure why they kept it.
The Final Verdict:
Although Cousins is well paced and quirky enough to hold your attention, there are better romances out there.
