Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

2023 1h 37m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

🍅

88%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 64🍅88%Rotten Tomatoes●69Metacritic★7.2IMDB · 3,706

RomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Two teenage Mexican-American loners in 1987 El Paso explore a new, unusual friendship and the difficult road to self-discovery.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Max Pelayo
Aristotle Mendoza
Reese Gonzales
Dante Quintana
Eugenio Derbez
Jaime Mendoza
Veronica Falcón
Liliana Mendoza
Kevin Alejandro
Sam Quintana
Eva Longoria
Soledad Quintana
Luna Blaise
Elena Tellez
Marlene Forte
Tia Ophelia

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Aitch Alberto
Writers: Aitch Alberto
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 3 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Aitch Alberto, shot by Akis Konstantakopoulos. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Isabella Summers. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Stefanie Visser shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales and Eugenio Derbez carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt9428746 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 64 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Aitch Alberto directs. Akis Konstantakopoulos behind the camera. Isabella Summers scores. Stefanie Visser cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 3 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
3Directed by Aitch Alberto, shot by Akis Konstantakopoulos. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Isabella Summers. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Stefanie Visser shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales and Eugenio Derbez carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt9428746 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 64 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 13 themes, including "coming out", "based on novel or book", "texas", "male friendship".

The technical file

Cinematography: Akis Konstantakopoulos
Original score: Isabella Summers
Editing: Stefanie Visser
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2023)
Rotten Tomatoes: 88% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 69/100
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 3,706 votes
MPAA: PG-13
US box office: $407,838

Awards

1 win & 7 nominations total

Also by

Aitch Alberto

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

kinrich302026-08-29
★ 6/10
It's about two young guys who become friends after a chance meeting. In time their relationship evolves into something more complicated. The good, it's a very good movie and does ultimately have a happy ending although there are some painful hurdles to overcome to get there; the annoying, not long after the guys meet, one leaves for a year and we only see one of the guys reading letters from the other and that really broke up the flow of the movie.
CinemaSerf2026-09-27
★ 7/10
"Aristotle" (Max Pelayo) is something of the school heart-throb, but something is missing from his life. He can't swim! It's at the local pool he meets "Dante" (Reese Gonzales) who offers to teach him. Pretty swiftly the two are as thick as thieves and when "Dante" has to move away they resort to ever more intimate letter-writing. It's the latter lad who proves to be the more open about his sexuality and he exacts a promise from his friend that puts quite a strain on their relationship, one that proves to be quite perilous for "Dante" and eye/heart-opening for "Ari". There are several themes woven into this drama, but what's a bit different is that they are more subtly presented. We can guess where the narrative is going, but not the many bumps along the way that address issues of culture, family, bigotry and love. Both lads deliver really quite poignantly throughout, as does Veronica Falcón as the mother of the increasingly conflicted "Ari". It takes a look at prevailing familial and societal attitudes - real and assumed - and gently unpicks the worst of human prejudice whilst also celebrating our diversity without recourse to endless sentiment and cheese. I thought that Gonzales stole the acting plaudits with a performance that is both honest and engaging and it packs a lot of story as well as some mischief and some fun into ninety minutes. Worth a look, I'd say.