Fifteen - SIFF [2026]

Fifteen [2026]

Film

This film was viewed at the 52nd Seattle International Film Festival

It isn't all that common for me to be hooked as much as I was during the opening scenes of Jack and Yossy Zagha's latest film, Fifteen. A mixture of body horror and coming-of-age genres, the film introduces Ligia (Greta Martí) and Mayte (Macarena Oz) during their dream quinceañera. Filled with extravagant dance numbers and pyrotechnics, the two young women celebrate together before coming to the realization that nobody is paying attention to them. Thinking they can do anything without anyone noticing, they begin to stab each other with outrageously large knives, giggling between every squelching lunge. Remember when I said this was their dream quinceañera? Well, I meant that literally as we quickly see the two girls are actually just playing in one of their rooms, planning out their perfect celebration.

The introduction worked tremendously well for me, with all of its bloody dreamscapes and subliminal ideas on feeling invisible as teenage girls that are on the outskirts of their school's social structure. Often drawing the ire of the school's Regina George type it girl, Ligia and Mayte face plenty of verbal abuse and bullying that's reflected perfectly in their violent shared dream. But, as exciting and well done as that sequence was, Fifteen fails to capitalize on these brief thrills. Instead, it muddles its ideas of body horror and adolescence in an uneven mix that never finds its footing.

Fifteen's coming-of-age thematics are pretty obvious from the jump, and you would think its body horror stylings would pair perfectly with it. Ligia, after an onslaught of body shaming and bullying from kids at school, is pushed to her boyfriend Joel (Andre Fajardo) and the two have awkward teenage sex. Unbeknownst to Ligia, Joel was recently attacked by a strange B-movie sewer demon that has infected him with some sort of affliction, which is now transmitted to Ligia via pregnancy. Even though Ligia goes through transformations stemming from her pregnancy, the visuals and explanations never come full circle in meshing the thoughts of adolescence and the influence of Rosemary's Baby. Instead we see abrupt moments of supernatural strength from Ligia, where she exhibits zero emotion before, during, or after some monstrous actions. Raising the question, what exactly is caused by the demonic offspring and what is caused by well, being a teenage girl? Sure, those blurred lines are the point of the film, but the lack of emotion in a confusing performance left me confused rather than begging for more.

Sadly, there's little to no cohesion between the themes, in a film that is rich with breadcrumbs. Ligia's sexual awakening and transformation doesn't veer enough into the body horror genre to elicit the horrifying reactions that should accompany its deeper messaging. What The Substance did for aging or what Titane did for identity and family are perfect examples of how pairing a transformative visual aesthetic can elevate simple ideals. By the time the end credits rolled I was sure I had watched a different movie than the one I had started. One that began with such promise, ended in frustration and exhaustion.

Froth

With how wonderful the introduction of Fifteen is, all of the bright colors and fun, I thought I'd go a different route for this pairing. The Passion Fruit, Orange and Guava (POG) Gose from Fremont Brewing is not my usual cup of tea, I can't say I've been driven to Sours or Goses generally speaking, but this one is delightful. Excellent on a hot summer day, Fremont's POG is jam-packed with bright, juicy flavors, of yes that's right, passion fruit, orange, and guava. There's no bitterness at all in this one so you'll rely on the subtle sourness to provide a little balance to the powerful sweetness that is flowing throughout each sip. The US Golding hops lend a little more herbal aromatics that give a nice depth to the aroma, but there's not much flavor coming from them. I'm not trying to sell this as an overly sweet juice based beverage, there's a dynamic feel to it that's refreshing and doesn't have that "I'm getting a cavity drinking this" feeling that I've gotten from Sours and Goses of yore. In fact, this might just have to be a staple in the rotation when the sun is out this summer!