A really nice gay coming of age film with a very likable cast lead by Louis Hofmann, a young actor who I just recently watched in a 26 hour binge of "Dark" on Netflix. This is an earlier film and he is very good in the lead. It's also a family drama with an unusual mother who is very enjoyable as is the actress who plays her, Sabine Timoteo, but she has a serious problem with men and our lead has a twin sister who is mostly a very unhappy camper alienating herself from her family. We eventually learn why and that is the film's one real off note. As soon as we learn what causes her unhappiness, and it is very serious, she is suddenly very happy?! Why the sudden change, I've no idea. In the midst of his family going through their various struggles, he falls in love for the first time with a hunky new classmate and as with any first "loves" we know in advance it will be both incredible and eventually problematic as first loves usually are. I don't know if this kind of acceptance of gay people in Germany is commonplace or it's just this wonderfully supportive movie family, but their reaction to his being gay is like a breath of fresh air. There's never the slightest hint of disapproval or anything out of the ordinary. There's a small plotline about a snow globe that seems to be leading to something, but it is curiously just dropped other than vaguely suggesting that someone may be a thief. In any event, it's a nice film about gay people that isn't tragic!
Review of Center of My World
