Queer Voids: “Lacking” Plotlines, Feelings of Unease, and Ambiguous Endings in Mosquita y Mari

To be “at ease” is a white, heterosexual luxury. The steady stream of homophobic and transphobic bills in state and federal legislatures and the arguments before the US Supreme Court threatening to revoke the civil rights of gay and trans people is a constant reminder that, for queer people, especially queer people of color, the future is never certain. The unease and uncertainty of queer existence is mirrored in the ending of Aurora Guerrero's 2012 film Mosquita y Mari (MyM)—a coming-of-age story featuring two Chicanas, very much unlike one another, who explore their mutual queer desire while navigating their families and personal challenges. It is a tender snapshot of queer becomingness that queers storytelling conventions, which has led to critiques such as that of film reviewer Ingrid Holmquist (2012), who asserts that the film “lacked both a hard-hitting plot-line and in-depth character development.” This vagueness...