An exquisitely tender evocation of the delicate, dreamy netherworld between lust and love, the latest film by the gifted Filipino director Aureus Solito (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, Pisay) is pure pleasure from start to finish. Spirit-lifting but never Pollyannish, street-smart without the griminess, Boy limns an unforgettable night in a teenager’s life.

A poetic well-off youth, not quite as naïve as his sensitive good looks suggest, visits a gay bar one evening and is smitten with one of the young macho dancers. Returning with enough cash to rent Aries, the lad takes him home for New Year’s Eve. Sure enough, fireworks ensue after holiday dinner with Mom, amid the boy’s numerous aquariums.

Solito suggests that it’s more than physical attraction, or even the irresistible allure of “the other,” that binds the duo. Aries and the boy easily transcend economic and educational barriers to make a powerful connection. The filmmaker takes care to show, through scenes between the boy and his mother and Aries and his father, that the youths are decent, solid guys connected to their families and mainstream society. Instead of the tormented, guilt-stricken or self-destructive teens that populate many queer movies, this deeply satisfying film gives us self-aware lads destined to grow into self-assured men. From nuanced sociopolitical commentary to a lengthy, lovely, languid love scene, Boy makes all the right moves. — MICHAEL FOX