Death of Nintendo is a heartwarming coming-of-age story filled with video games, ghosts, and circumcision [CIFF]

Set in Manila during the ’90s, director Raya Martin’s Death of Nintendo blends the standard elements of a coming-of-age story with a distinct Filipino spin, incorporating the country’s cultural practices and beliefs into a unique and multi-layered film.

Paolo (Noel Comia Jr.) is obsessed with his Nintendo system. While the country’s constant power outages and his overbearing mother often keep him away making too much of a dent in Zelda, Paolo spends his days with his friends Kachi (John Vincent Servilla) and Gilligan (Jiggerfelip Sementilla), checking out swiped porno mags and imaging their lives as adults. When his trusted tomboy friend Mimaw (Kim Oquendo) suddenly becomes friends with the cool girls, led by Paolo’s crush Shiara (Elijah Alejo), Paolo and his crew hatch a plan to go ghost-hunting with the girls in a local cemetery, while also arranging a stealth trip to see a traditional village doctor to get circumcised.

There is a lot going on in Death of Nintendo, and the film often feels overstuffed with all the various plot threads. While it might be too busy, there aren’t many teen comedies about boys conniving to get circumcised together to enter manhood that also feature a ghost subplot and a heavy dose of ’90s pop culture nostalgia (including a banging “Informer” needle drop).

Raya Martin has a great sense of comic timing, and the wide cast of characters is endearing and memorable. Death of Nintendo lovingly captures the era when button-mashing was king, and the notion of adulthood still seemed as challenging as a final boss battle.

Death of Nintendo is screening as part of the Calgary International Film Festival through October 4. Tickets are available here.