‘Pet Shop Days’ Review: Two Men With Daddy Issues Attract One Another, and Trouble, in Promising Nepo Debut
variety.comTodd Gilchrist editor A scrappy urban tale of misspent young adulthood, Olmo Schnabel’s “Pet Shop Days” evokes the blown-out, stolen-shot 16mm character studies of 1990s independent cinema, as well as the bohemian oeuvre of painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, his father.
This isn’t attributable merely to the fact that the younger Schnabel includes a scene in which his characters watch Julian’s 1996 “Basquiat,” whose themes and aloof tone — not to mention the events of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s actual life — would seem an obvious inspiration for his first feature.
But in a contemporary absence of true New York stories told by filmmakers with seemingly more moxie than money, newcomer Schnabel distinguishes himself with a debut that feels tactile, real and suitably off-putting as he attempts to capture the sensibilities (if not always common sense) of twentysomethings.
Dario Yazbek Bernal (of Netflix’s “House of Flowers”) plays Alejandro, a spoiled, rebellious young adult who has bonded — perhaps unhealthily — with his mother Karla (Maribel Verdú) under the oppressive thumb of his father Castro (Jordi Mollà), a well-established Mexican crime lord.
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