Institut Ramon LLull

Ernest is writing to someone he’s emotionally and physically involved with. He wants to express his desire and joyfully recall the night before, but he can’t. He finds himself unable to talk about desire without lapsing into self-justification and feelings of guilt. So he summons a narrator. It’s this new voice —witty and unguarded— that tells his story. We meet Ernest as a child and witness his sexual awakening, from his early obsessions and strange seduction rituals to his discovery of pornography, love and disappointment. We follow him through adolescence and into early adulthood, when he falls for Aurora and begins an unusual relationship complicated by the presence of others, including Gisela —a married mother flirting with free love. Nearly two decades unfold, spanning the establishment of contemporary feminism and social media —from Messenger to Tinder— offering a kind of sentimental and political education. As he wrestles with the weight of rules and expectations, Ernest, like everyone in his generation, strives to create a new code to live by.