Los Frikis, Trying to Rock and Eat in Cuba

In 1991, rock & roll was illegal in Cuba. LGBTQ Cubans were also widely discriminated against. That consequently caused tremendous stigma for HIV patients. Nevertheless, hundreds of Cubans  (especially “Los Frikis” of “The Geeks,” as the punk sub-culture was known) deliberately self-infected, to be admitted to HIV sanitariums, where patients were well-fed (at least while they could still eat). A young teenager joins his older brother’s HIV-positive band in their provincial refuge, but they cannot hide from reality forever in Tyler Nilson & Michael Schwartz’s Los Frikis, which is now available on VOD.

Even by punk rock standards. Gustavo’s older brother Paco is extremely nihilistic. It fuels his music, but causes friction with the family that took the siblings in, after their father was executed in the sugar cane fields, for a minor infraction. They intend to sail to Florida on a makeshift raft, but they only plan to take Gustavo with them.

Since everyone believes AIDS will be cured in a few years, Paco gets an infected jab, believing he can wait out the starvation of Castro’s “special period” in the comfort of an HIV sanitarium. Every one repeat after me: “the alleged superiority of Cuban medicine is a propaganda lie.” Paco will learn that the hard way, However, the care provided by Maria is quite conscientious, but she is not a doctor. She came to the sanitarium to care for her brother and stayed on after his death.

Gustavo also joins his brother, but as a patient. After abandoning the sinking raft, he convinced a doctor to give him a false positive report. Technically, he is perfectly healthy, but he feels shame listening to the other patients’ HIV “pride.” Of course, the local cops do not see it their way.

It is deeply disturbing to think that Cubans like Paco intentionally self-infected, just for the sake of food, but that was the reality of Castro’s Cuba. Ironically, the brothers’ early days in the sanitarium feel like an idyllic respite. Unfortunately, they greatly under-estimate the virulence of AIDS and over-estimate the effectiveness of Castro’s health system.

Regardless, Hector Medina is a visceral force as Paco, which makes his inevitable decline so acutely tragic. It is hard to believe he portrayed the teen drag performer in Viva, but such is his range. Adria Arjona also shines as nurturing Maria. Eros de la Puente convincingly projects Gustavo’s sensitivity and intelligence, but his reserved performance often results in Medina or Arjona overshadowing him.

Nevertheless, this is a heck of a bittersweet coming-of-age story. Some very hard lessons are learned throughout Los Frikis. Filmed in the Dominican Republic (for obvious reasons), Nilson and Schwartz also convincingly recreate the utter depression and misery of the Special Period (when the liberated captive Soviet nations cut economic subsidies to Castro’s regime). Highly recommended, Los Frikis is now available on VOD.