Love, family, sacrifice, and an ending that stays with you
I recently watched José, a Guatemalan movie available on Amazon Prime Video. It is an LGBTQ film, but I believe its message goes far beyond the story of a young gay man. It is a film about love, family, difficult choices, and the price we sometimes pay when our personal desires conflict with our responsibilities to the people we love.
I was touched by this movie, particularly by its ending. After watching it, I found myself thinking about José and the choices he made. It is the kind of film that invites us to reflect on our own lives rather than simply sit back and enjoy a story.
A Young Man Searching for Love
José is a 19-year-old young man living with his mother in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala, a country in Central America. He works hard to help make ends meet, while his mother earns a living selling food. Their lives are modest, and their home is shaped by economic hardship and strong religious beliefs.
José is gay, but he lives in a society where homosexuality is often met with disapproval. His mother's deep religious convictions and his dependence on her make it difficult for him to live openly and pursue the kind of relationship he wants.
Much of José's life is spent in secrecy. He meets men through dating applications and has casual encounters, but these meetings do not necessarily provide the emotional connection he needs.
Then he meets Luis.
Unlike his previous encounters, his relationship with Luis develops into something more meaningful. There is affection, tenderness, and the possibility of a different life. For a while, José experiences the happiness of being with someone who makes him feel loved.
But happiness is not always easy to hold on to.
Love Versus Family Responsibility
One of the most important questions raised by the movie is whether a person should follow his heart or remain with a parent who depends on him.
José faces this dilemma when the possibility of a future with Luis requires him to consider leaving his mother behind.
His situation is not simply a question of whether he is brave enough to live as a gay man. He is also a son who loves his mother and understands her dependence on him.
This is what makes the story more complicated than a conventional romance.
It is easy for an outside observer to tell someone to follow his dreams. It is much harder when pursuing those dreams means leaving behind a loved one who has sacrificed for you and who may have no one else to depend on.
I think many people, regardless of their sexual orientation, can understand this conflict. We make choices throughout our lives between personal happiness and family obligations. Sometimes we can find a compromise. At other times, there is no choice that leaves everyone happy.
The film does not pretend that love automatically solves these problems.
A Different Perspective on LGBTQ Lives
What I appreciated about José is that it presents its central character as a human being first.
José is not a political statement or merely a representative of the LGBTQ community. He is a young man trying to earn a living, care for his mother, find companionship, and discover what kind of life he wants.
His circumstances are also shaped by poverty, religious expectations, and the social pressures surrounding masculinity in Guatemala.
For readers unfamiliar with Guatemala, it is important to understand that the film portrays a particular social environment. It should not be taken as a complete picture of every Guatemalan family or every religious person. People within the same country and faith can hold very different attitudes toward LGBTQ individuals.
Nevertheless, the story reminds us that being accepted for who we are is not something everyone can take for granted.
I have always believed that we should try to understand people whose lives differ from our own. We do not need to share another person's experiences to recognize that person’s dignity, loneliness, hopes, and capacity to love.
The Ending That Stayed With Me
Spoiler warning: The following section discusses the ending of the movie.
What happens to José and Luis is not the kind of romantic conclusion that many viewers might expect.
José ultimately chooses to remain with his mother rather than leave with Luis. The decision carries an emotional cost. The relationship that briefly opened a door to a different future gives way to separation and longing.
The film does not wrap everything up with a reassuring explanation of what happens next. It leaves us with uncertainty.
I can understand why some viewers might find this frustrating. We often want a movie to tell us whether its characters eventually find happiness. We want to know whether the sacrifice was worthwhile and whether the people involved will someday find peace.
But I also understand the power of an ending that refuses to answer every question.
Real life rarely provides us with a complete explanation of our choices. We make decisions with the information and emotional resources available to us at the time. We may later wonder what would have happened had we chosen differently.
Did José make the right decision? Was remaining with his mother an expression of love, a sense of duty, fear of the unknown, or some combination of all three?
Perhaps the film deliberately leaves room for us to answer these questions for ourselves.
I was particularly moved by the possibility that a person can experience genuine love and still be unable to build a life around it. Sometimes circumstances, obligations, and our own limitations prevent us from pursuing the future we desire.
That is a painful truth, but it is also part of being human.
What Does It Mean to Love Someone?
At my stage of life, I have come to appreciate that love is not always a simple matter of choosing happiness.
After more than six decades of marriage to my beloved Macrine, I understand that a lasting relationship involves affection, companionship, sacrifice, and responsibility. Love is expressed not only through romantic moments but also through the ordinary decisions we make for one another over many years.
José's story is different from mine, and I would not presume to compare our experiences too closely. Yet the film reminded me that love often requires us to consider another person's needs alongside our own.
At the same time, I wonder whether sacrifice always leads to the best outcome. Must we give up our own happiness to prove that we love someone? Is it possible to love a parent, a partner, or a family member while still claiming the right to live our own lives?
These are difficult questions, and I do not believe there is one answer that applies to everyone.
Perhaps the challenge is to find a way to love others without completely losing ourselves.
My Final Thoughts
I would recommend José to viewers who appreciate thoughtful films about human relationships and social realities. It is not a conventional Hollywood romance, and those looking for a neatly resolved story may find its ending unsettling.
But for me, the film's strength lies in its quiet humanity.
It invites us to look beyond labels and consider the person behind them. It asks us to recognize that a young gay man in Guatemala can have the same hopes for love, security, and happiness that people everywhere share.
We may live in different countries, speak different languages, practice different religions, and come from different cultures. Yet the desire to love and be loved is universal.
I finished watching José with questions rather than answers. Perhaps that is why the movie touched me so deeply.
Sometimes a film's greatest achievement is not that it tells us how life should unfold, but that it helps us understand how complicated life can be.
And sometimes, the stories that remain with us are not those in which everyone lives happily ever after, but those that remind us to be more understanding of the struggles of others.
A final thought: We may not always agree with the choices other people make, especially when those choices involve love and family. But before judging them, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether we truly understand the burdens they carry.
After all, compassion begins when we try to see the world through another person's eyes.
An Ending That Left Me Wanting More
There is one aspect of José that I found particularly frustrating, although perhaps it was intentional on the part of the filmmaker.
The movie ends without telling us what eventually happens to José and Luis.
After spending nearly an hour and a half following José's life, understanding his difficult circumstances, and witnessing the development of his relationship with Luis, I was expecting some kind of closure.
I wanted to know whether they would meet again. Would José eventually find the courage and opportunity to pursue a life with Luis? Would Luis wait for him, or would he move on with his own life? Would José remain tied to his family responsibilities, or would circumstances eventually change?
Unfortunately, the film leaves all these questions unanswered.
When the credits began rolling, my immediate reaction was that the story was not complete!
Perhaps the director deliberately wanted the audience to imagine its own ending. Perhaps this was intended to reflect real life, where relationships do not always have neat conclusions and where many personal struggles remain unresolved.
I understand that artistic intention. Nevertheless, as a viewer who had become emotionally invested in these two characters, I wanted to know more.
I wanted José and Luis to have another chapter in their lives.
I am almost 92 years old, and I have watched many movies throughout my lifetime. I have learned that not every story needs a happy ending. But I do believe that a good story deserves an ending that gives its audience some sense of completion.
José gave me something different. It gave me questions, unanswered emotions, and a desire to know what happened after the screen went dark.
Perhaps that is the film's greatest achievement or perhaps its greatest frustration!
I would be interested to hear from readers who have watched José. Did you appreciate its open ending, or, like me, did you wish the filmmaker had given us another chapter?
Sometimes, the most memorable movies are those that continue playing in our minds long after we have finished watching them.
- Director & Co-Writer: Chinese-born filmmaker Li Cheng brought an outside, sensitive eye to the project, embedding himself in Guatemala for years to research the local landscape.
- Co-Writer & Producer: George F. Roberson collaborated closely with Cheng to capture the authenticity of working-class realities.
- The Lead Actors: Both Enrique Salanic and Manolo Herrera are magnetic newcomers. Salanic, in particular, delivers a raw, understated performance that grounds the entire emotional weight of the movie.
