_Carmen y Lola_ is a simple story told extremely well.

From a cultural standpoint: While my lesbian friends will no doubt find this tale of two Romani* teenagers (a high femme and a lipstick lesbian, no less) in the suburbs of Madrid a tad cloying while the skinny young women parade about in their short shorts and tight T-shirts, I, as an over-sensitive gay man, found the girls' relationship completely and totally endearing.

From a filmmaking standpoint: _Carmen & Lola_ takes absolutely zero risks as concerns the story and the style, yet the purity of the film shines through thanks, in large part, to the acting. The lead actresses (Rosy Rodriguez as Carmen, the cishet beauty engaged to Lola's cousin, and Zaira Morales as the innocent yet self-aware lesbian Lola) are on point, but the supporting cast are phenomenal, especially when considering all but one are non-professional Romani.

The bottom line: As the film began to reach its conclusion, I caught myself hoping for a happy ending harder than I have for almost any film to date, which means that the 'sexual correctness' and the 'grand filmmaking' questions meant little to me when compared to how emotionally involved I became in the movie. And that makes the film a good one, in my book.

*Many English readers will know this population as 'gypsy', though I use the term 'Romani' here as many consider 'gypsy' to be pejorative. Note that, in the film the population refer to themselves as 'gitana' and 'gitano', which are the Spanish translations of 'gypsy'.

Also note, if you enjoyed _Carmen y Lola_ you really need to see _Rafiki_, a Kenyan film much in the same vein.