In his first feature, Alexis Dos Santos perfectly renders a portrait of the inner lives of teenagers: a tangle of passions, disappointments, thrills and dreams. Glue introduces us to three young friends experiencing this trance of youth together. Fifteen-year-old Lucas is a small-town Argentine boy. Growing up in a tempestuous environment with a cheating father and a weak-willed mother, Lucas sets his sights beyond these disappointing adult realities and fills his time hanging out with his friend Nacho, blissing out to alternative music and singing in a garage band (with Nacho on drums). In secret, he also observes his body and his burgeoning sexual desires with wide-eyed wonder. When Nacho and Lucas befriend local girl Andrea, the three disaffected teens hit it off, and their inner lives and fantasies intertwine like a serpentine dance.

Dos Santos captures the quivering mass of angst and excitement that makes up a typical teenager’s day, in which attention can be suddenly riveted and just as quickly led astray by any attraction, thought or rock anthem. Super-8 solo sequences of each character evoke inner moments, while their ultimate sexual explorations are achieved with a tenderness and humor that suggest a similar dream state. Sun-drenched cinematography and a great soundtrack (including great dollops of Violent Femmes) round out this strong debut feature.