Wanting to be ‘beautiful !’, our young hero tires himself out straightening his hair, hence the title of the movie, 'Bad Hair'. The film follows this wild child in his pursuit of dreams of stardom and victory at the Miss Venezuela competition, but also his relationship with a mother with homophobic tendencies, who is trying to find work at all costs. Very strong in dealing with the theme of not fitting in, Pelo Malo tackles head on the subject of a continent in the spotlight as to questions of children’s' sexuality, as illustrated, for example, in our hero’s persistent glances at the (desirable to say the least) anatomy of the young neighbourhood grocer.