Papi Chulo (film)

Papi Chulo is a 2018 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Butler, starring Matt Bomer and Alejandro Patiño. It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

Plot

Sean, a solitary and alienated television weatherman, drives past a middle-aged Hispanic migrant worker standing outside a hardware store looking for work. He decides to hire this kind-looking man, to paint his deck and for someone to talk to, in this darkly comedic reflection on class, ethnicity, and companionship in contemporary Los Angeles. Sean is young, gay and white; Ernesto, portly, straight and married. Despite having nothing in common and a language barrier, they build a sort of friendship, until Sean becomes consumed with a deeper obsessive need.

Cast

Matt Bomer as Sean
Alejandro Patiño as Ernesto
Elena Campbell-Martinez as Linda
Wendi McLendon-Covey as Ash
Michael Shepperd as Stan
Tommie Earl Jenkins as Tom
Edgar Arreola as Elisio
Ryan Guzman as Rodrigo
Shaughn Buchholz as Mike
D'Arcy Carden as Susan

Release

Papi Chulo had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2018. The film also screened at BFI London Film Festival; the Torino Film Festival on November 23, 2018; the Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 6, 2019; and the Dublin International Film Festival on February 20, 2019. It then released in select theaters on June 7, 2019.

Reception

Critical response

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film rating, based on reviews, with an average rating of. The site's consensus reads: "Papi Chulo is a cross-cultural comedy that mostly avoids the pitfalls of its premise, largely thanks to the chemistry between its well-matched leads." Another aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".