Director Cecilia Aldarondo looks back on her adolescence and examines how experiences from high school continue to impact her life in the documentary You Were My First Boyfriend. HBO’s released the first trailer for what’s described as a hybrid documentary that features recreations of key events from Aldarondo’s past.
“What if you could rewrite your adolescence? In this high school reunion movie turned inside out, filmmaker Aldarondo embarks on a fantastical quest to reconcile her tortured teen years. She revisits some of her most formative – and at times cringeworthy – childhood experiences, tracking down old crushes and reenacting visceral memories of youthful humiliation and desire, at times playing the role of her younger self and casting teenagers to play the kids in her life who still haunt her,” reads HBO’s synopsis. “Oscillating between present and past, humor and heartbreak, You Were My First Boyfriend is a hybrid documentary that takes seriously the power of adolescence and the way time impacts memories, exploring what it means to grow up and make peace with the drama of our teenage trauma.”
Aldarondo wrote, produced and directed the documentary, with Sarah Enid Hagey co-directing, writing, and editing. Ines Hofman Kanna produced, and HBO’s Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Sara Rodriguez serve as executive producers.
Joining Aldarondo in front of the camera are Melissa Baker, Sarah Baker Butterfield, Laura Gallegos, Gabriel Kristal, Joel Pickering, and Jo Anne Taylor (as themselves). The cast also includes Trinity Soos, Hannah Whipple, Xander Black, Maya Karp, Ella Marie Fraley, Delanie Nicole Gill, Erica Kaylee Gouldthorpe, Isabella Rivera Gandulla, and Cole Donaldson.
You Were My First Boyfriend will premiere on November 8, 2023 at 9pm ET/PT.
