Love in the Time of Hysteria

A satirical sex comedy set in the age of AIDS, Love in the Time of Hysteria marked the auspicious debut of director Alfonso Cuarón – with friends Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu, one of a celebrated trio of Mexican filmmakers — the “three amigos” — who have gone on to become prominent international successes. (Cuarón’s subsequent films have included Y tu mamá también, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Children of Men.) Set over a manic 24-hour period, the film concerns bed-hopping cad Tomás, a compulsive womanizer suffering from hypochondria and writer’s block. Tomás gets a cruel comeuppance when seduced and abandoned nurse Silvia, one his conquests, switches his blood test so that Tomás thinks he has AIDS. The film’s Spanish-language title, which translates as “Only with Your Partner,” references AIDS awareness ads. “A very funny, bawdy and bold farce . . . A frenetic comedy that breaks all the taboos. Shot in breathtaking CinemaScope, Love in the Time of Hysteria reveals a talented director who is definitely going places” (Toronto I.F.F.). Colour, 35mm, in Spanish with English subtitles. 98 mins.