‘Los Frikis’ Review: A Vibrant Drama Set in 1990s Cuba Spotlights Punk Rockers Who Took Extreme Measures to Survive
variety.comCarlos Aguilar Traveling through clandestine airwaves, Kurt Cobain touched down in Havana, Cuba, in the turbulent early 1990s.
A time of dire economic hardship for the island nation after the fall of the Soviet Union, the “Special Period” pushed thousands of Cubans to migrate, risking their lives at sea.
Those who stayed suffered through great scarcity (the U.S. embargo played its part). The grunge star never visited in person, but via the radios of locals illegally tuning in to stations from the U.S.
after Fidel Castro banned rock music. One of those listeners, 18-year-old Gustavo (Eros de la Puente), will later try to cover Nirvana’s iconic song in the vibrant Spanish-language drama “Los Frikis,” from Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, the filmmakers behind the moving buddy movie “The Peanut Butter Falcon.” Produced by Phil Lord (who is Cuban American) and Chris Miller, “Los Frikis” is based on the real-life drastic measure of self-preservation that hundreds of young people living on the margins of society — hurting for food and under constant attack from the regime — took at the time.
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