1987NR

Mala Noche

Name: Mala Noche
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 1987-06-19
Rating: 6.1

If you fuck with the bull, you get the horn!

DramaRomance1h 15m

🍅96%

🍅

96%

Tomatometer

🍿

63%

Popcornmeter

6.1

TMDB

Storyline

Walt is a lonely convenience store clerk who has fallen in love with a Mexican migrant worker named Johnny. Though Walt has little in common with the object of his affections — including a shared language — his desire to possess Johnny prompts a sexual awakening that results in a tangled love triangle.

Trailers

Details

DirectorGus Van Sant

ReleasedJun 19, 1987

StatusReleased

Original languageEnglish

Budget

$22.5K

Revenue

Not disclosed

Parental guideNRUS

Reviews

8 reviews · 7 critics

7 fresh · 0 rotten

Critics consensus

“Mala Noche is a raw and gritty portrait of desire, doomed romance, and rejection -- and marks debuting director Gus Van Sant as a filmmaker with a gratifyingly personal touch.”

96% TomatometerRotten Tomatoes

Rob Humanick

RTSlant MagazineNov 5, 2007

Gritty, dirty, lyrical, altogether sensual.

Wesley Morris

RTBoston GlobeJun 15, 2007

Of all Van Sant's movies, Mala Noche is the rawest, most personal, and least freighted. It's the one fans should see for the simplest inkling into Van Sant's complex artistic roots.

Melissa Anderson

RTTime OutJun 2, 2007

Van Sant would later refine some of the blunter stylistic turns into a wondrous visual poetry; his ability to capture the addictive pull of desire, however, remains compelling even in its crudest state.

Kathy Fennessy

RTSeattle Film BlogDec 14, 2025

Sensitive, but never sentimental, it's the work of a born filmmaker.