MALACHANCE Latin Cinema Series

Debut director Gerardo Naranjo’s MALACHANCE is an urban fable aimed at the disillusioned, stubborn and rebellious. It’s the story of a kid who wants to be somebody else.

In the New Orleans backstreets – inhabited by older drug dealers relying on a few young men to push their product – Mika, played by James Ransone (KEN PARK, THE WIRE), sells for The Dutch, who’s almost like a Grandfather to him. Whiel Mika’s aimless buddies, Ringo and Sal, are thinking about getting into the business, Mika wants out. Sal is offered a job on Coney Island, and Mika steals this opportunity to get out. But you can’t escape yourself.

Naranjo has an originial voice, and is definitely someone to watch. The film is skillfully told, with a cleverly fractured story structure echoing Mika’s ruptured sense of self.