Don't Let Me Drown

R

2009

1h 42m

Drama

Romance

List

80%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

81%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

In post-9/11 New York, two teens (E.J. Bonilla, Gleendilys Inoa) try to ease the pain of their loved ones' illness and loss by embarking on a forbidden love affair.

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Audience Member

amazing best movie ever

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

its a very nice movie:)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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Audience Member

A moving, touchingly funny coming of age film about normal Bronx teens in a refreshingly real love story.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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Audience Member

Good script with comic moments, serious moments, and a lot in between. The acting, especially by the young couple and the father, Ricardo Chavira, is really good. The soundtrack is a lot of rap music, and there is a lot of profanity - but that's just the culture in this setting. The movie is basically a Hispanic movie with about half the dialog in Spanish...so plenty of subtitiles. I enjoyed this.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Audience Member

A R&J love story set in the aftermath of 9/11. It tries hard to be authentic but leaves the audience a little short. If haven't seen Raising Victor Vargas [2002], you should watch that film instead, it's a similiar film without the 9/11 backdrop. Lalo a young Mexican American high schooler with illegal parents is living in run down area of New York, he meets Stefanie a young Dominican girl and they fall in love. However Stefanie's father has rage issues and won't let her date anyone, and he'll beat anyones ass who tries to. Lalo's family struggles to pay rent while Stefanie's family is still reeling from the loss of their star daughter who had just got a job working at the World Trade Center. The acting is not bad, the cinematography is not too bad, nor the editing but it just doesn't grab you like Raising Victor Vargas. Apart of the reason why is because the film doesn't know how to immerse the audience in the Point of View and emotions of young teens in love. It has these side stories that distract from the love birds like the father's rage about his daughter's death and the Lalo's father cleaning up 9/11 debris without proper gear. These are important issues but these side characters get scenes to themselves and it sort of turns the film into an ensemble piece and dilutes from the love story. Also the two teens are not very original or distinguishable. In Raising Victor Vargas the main character had this really cocky bloated attitude which gave him some flavor. In this film it's just two teenagers who are a little timid about their emotions and although love is a compelling thing, audiences tend to wanna watch characters who are a little bit out of the ordinary. This film is decent but otherwise too luke warm to distinguish itself from the greats.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Don't Let Me Drown tells the story of two ethnically different families fighting to survive in the wake of one of the most devastating tragedies in American history. Lalo (E.J. Bonilla) and Stefanie (Gleendylis Inoa) are two high-school kids living in Brooklyn. Lalo is an American-born Mexican teen whose father worked as a janitor at the World Trade Center and now spends his days blackening his lungs as part of the Ground Zero cleanup crew. Lalo is forced to watch as his father returns home nightly with escalating medical complications due to the dust inhaled.<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=119qx5x" target="_blank"><img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/119qx5x.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> Stephanie is a Dominican girl whose family has relocated from Manhattan to Brooklyn after the death of her sister, who worked in one of the Twin Towers. While her mother (Gina Torres) tries to hold the family together, her father (Ricardo Antonio Chavira from Desperate Housewives) is overwhelmed by the loss and cannot control his anger and is often abusive. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=104q8g7" target="_blank"><img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/104q8g7.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> In the midst of their family turmoil and exactly one month after the WTC attacks, Lalo and Stefanie meet at a birthday party, and although they start off on the wrong foot, the ice melts, and their budding friendship becomes a clandestine romance. Despite parents trying to break them up, lecherous advances from a slimy neighbour and the usual teen uncertainties, they try to find stability and safety in an ever-changing and unrelentingly difficult world reminding us of the healing power that can be found in love. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2hmzpr8" target="_blank"><img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/2hmzpr8.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Cruz Angeles

Director

E.J. Bonilla

Lalo

Gleendilys Inoa

Stefanie

Damián Alcázar

Ramon

Ricardo Antonio Chavira

Dionisio

Gina Torres

Diana

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Kirk Honeycutt

Hollywood Reporter

"Don't Let Me Drown" is one of the best film portraits yet of New York City in the aftermath of 9/11.

Mar 6, 2015

Full Review

Rob Nelson

Variety

Though not as winning as "Raising Victor Vargas," which it resembles, the pic draws its romance tenderly and believably.

Jul 6, 2010

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Joanne Laurier

World Socialist Web Site

The characters are sympathetic even in their harsh and tense moments. Cruz is trying to get at something genuine.

Mar 5, 2021

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Neil Miller

Film School Rejects

The film takes a while to really get going, but once it does get up to speed it really shines.

Rated: B+

Mar 6, 2015

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Brian Orndorf

BrianOrndorf.com

Evokes the fragile days that followed the terrorist attacks with heartbreaking, often chilling execution. There's a love story wedged in here too, but that only gets in the way.

Rated: C+

Apr 8, 2010

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Synopsis

In post-9/11 New York, two teens (E.J. Bonilla, Gleendilys Inoa) try to ease the pain of their loved ones' illness and loss by embarking on a forbidden love affair.

Director: Cruz Angeles
Producer: Virgil Price, Jamie Mai, Charlie Ledley, James Lawler
Screenwriter: Cruz Angeles, Maria Topete
Production Co: Parts & Labor, Rollin' Deep Productions
Rating: R (Pervasive Language|Some Sexual References)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 15, 2016
Runtime: 1h 42m

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