A friend recommended this 2002 movie as one of the best menage films. It is, in reality, a superior coming-of-age tale.
The film introduces us to two callow, randy young Mexican men. The movie stumbles when it dwells on demonstrating just how callow and randy. When the boys finally take the beautiful "older" woman Louisa on a road trip to find a mythical beach, the movie finds its groove.
As they travel, Louisa becomes a mentor to the boys, helping them to become men--primarily in the sexual arena. If you're familiar with the archetypes in the Hero's Journey, the film's ending will not surprise you.
There are many sex scenes in the movie, and one of them is menage. In the unrated version, this three-way union is discrete. The sex isn't especially arousing, as sex is merely another form of communication.
The cinematography is spectacular. At first, the filming is voyeur-like and distancing. As the characters become more real to each other, the camera-work gets more intimate. The movie is subtitled. The dialog is truly wonderful, though embellished with a whole lot of "fucks". A narrator mainly functions to provide the socio-politico-economic background. I could have done without the interruption.
