Clocked is a Great Stepping-Stone for a Promising Director
Clocked is a great film for Salzman’s debut and to expand the conversation on how trans people should always be treated with respect.
Noah Salzman’s directorial debut, Clocked, is the perfect way for him to start his career. While some points can be refined, the storytelling shows great potential. For his first movie, this is definitely a win, and it guarantees that Slazman will continue to deliver high-quality projects that speak to the hearts of his audience.
Adolfo’s (Germain Arroyo) story is one that needs to be told, especially in these times. With the trans community constantly under attack, Clocked offers viewers a peek into what the drag and trans communities are like from the inside. Instead of looking at it from the perspective of the media and what politicians want people to believe, the story digs into what it is like for trans people to navigate their day-to-day lives and the solace the drag community offers to so many young trans folks.
Clocked does a great portrayal of what it is like to belong to a conservative, Catholic, Hispanic family, and how that affects every decision Adolfo makes. He is torn between who he is and what he wants for his life, and what his family wants for/of him. This dilemma is represented perfectly in the secret life he leads. We first see it when he purchases the lipstick Camila (Marisa Davila) was wearing on their date, and goes to the beach to put it on his lips. The viewers are witnesses to this secret he is carrying.
Adolfo’s journey isn’t just about accepting his truth and trying to live by it, but also about the sacrifices he has to make for his family. He voices multiple times how he hates his body, how he didn’t ask to be born in this body, and how he wishes he could change. Simultaneously, we see him having to face the homophobic comments of his family, like his father saying two gay men won’t be smiling anymore when they don’t see the gates of heaven.
Those kinds of comments and his mom talking about his future wedding to another woman are what terrify Adolfo and stop him from sharing his truth with his family. These are situations that members of the LGBTQ+ community have to face daily, and the movie does a great job of portraying them.
As a matter of fact, Clocked portrays perfectly the reality of a member of the community who has never had the chance to be immersed in the culture nor has had a chance to interact with other queer individuals. Arroyo’s performance as a nervous, naive, and in-the-process-of-maturing Adolfo is quite perfect. His facial expressions give us a look into Adolfo’s mind, allowing us to better understand his emotions and thoughts.
In the beginning, Adolfo feels completely out of place at the Villain Theater. It is clear that he has never been that close to other members of the LGBTQ+ community, but he is curious and intrigued. Nevertheless, his nerves get the best of him the first night, and he runs out without truly opening his heart to what is around him. It isn’t until he meets Eddie (Brandon Hudson), Cleo (Armand Fields), and Jasmine (Daniel May) that he learns about this community.
It is through these new friendships that Adolfo (and the audience) learns more about the cruel reality that the trans community is facing. With Anna’s disappearance, there is room for the speech to center on the dangers they face from the bigotry and the homophobia that surrounds them. There are two moments related to her disappearance that significantly impact the film.
The first one is the speech Cleo gives to Adolfo when they are walking around the city putting up signs with Anna’s photo. This is the first time that Adolfo sees what is happening to other people like him, opening up to another reality. The second one is when he sees the news about Anna’s death and locks himself in the bathroom to cry, but must act as if nothing had happened because his father is there. Adolfo understands that it could be his reality, but he is also stuck in a reality that doesn’t belong to him.
Jasmine sharing her personal story with Adolfo and Cleo taking him in as her drag daughter are perfect representations of how the trans and drag communities have always received other LGBTQ+ folks with open arms. They have always been a guiding force to be reckoned with within the community, so it makes sense that they are the ones to guide Adolfo as he navigates his gender journey.
While certain plots in the storyline could have been explored further, the ending is the one that should have been handled differently. In my opinion, the film's ending feels abrupt and lacks coherence. It feels quite disrespectful to see a group of straight men come into a safe space for the community and invade it for Adolfo’s brother’s bachelor party. The brother himself says, “I don’t mess with this gay stuff,” reminding us of the rooted homophobia in the family.
Even though it seems Adolfo ignores his presence after seeing him, that is a moment that the viewers should have enjoyed solely as the night Belle was born. Clocked could have had Adolfo’s brother find out at any other point in the film, and it should have been handled with more care and time.
Nevertheless, the abrupt ending doesn’t take away from the great job Salzman and the cast did. Arroyo’s performance stands out throughout the film, particularly during the scene in which he tries on his sister-in-law’s clothes and looks at himself in the mirror. Clocked is a great film for Salzman’s debut and to expand the conversation on how trans people should always be treated with respect.
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