Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

This is a badly acted and directed story of sexual deviance and forbidden romance between two tortured men - who like to act out by torturing others. The poster promoted it as two serial killers in love and a wife who is betrayed. Honestly, the story is novel and had a great potential to make one of this slashy horror romance kinda films, but this is so badly acted that I Was laughing at so many places. Andrew, a celebrated gay novelist, is married to Pauline. Their marriage is going through rough patch and Pauline has taken to alcohol. Andrew, meanwhile dealing with wrier's block, goes around paying gay hookers to suck him off but is still struggling. One day he sees a guy murdering someone and drinking their blood. He runs for his life but the killer soon catches him and kidnaps him. His name is Eddie and is a psychotic serial killer. After a few days of torture and sexual activities, Andrew convinces Eddie to let him go and that he will write a novel based on his life. For next ...

This documentary is about the life of the Brazilian transsexual singer Linn da Quebrada. Coming from an impoverished region of São Paulo, where she has to face many prejudices, among others, for being black. Her funk music sounds like a "gun" against machismo. With a really strong and daring stage presence, she constantly seeks to confront and fight paradigms and stereotypes. The titular star and her stage partner Jup do Bairro openly discuss what challenges they face from transphobia and racism growing up in the favelas of San Paulo, exploring how they use their music to give voice to the marginalized communities they fight for. The film shows her in performance, in the studio, reflecting on the nature of identity, hanging out with friends, and also affectionately chatting with her mum in the apartment where she grew up, arguing about the community’s defeatist habit of romanticizing poverty. She aligns the experience of being trans with the marginalization involved in having...

This series is a classic case of likely the makers realizing that sex sells even in BL stories. Enough of this high school love and romance, we need to throw in more kisses and lot of hot bodies and sex and we will have a winner on our hands. Honestly this is what I feel the conversation must have gone when this show was being greenlit. 12 episodes of 50-60 minutes each, the story just keeps going in circles for no reason at all. I am honestly baffled at why these Thai film makers still insist on longer duration of episodes. Almost 80% of the narrative includes unhindered & unapologetic sex scenes between the main leads. I’m yet to find an episode where they weren’t kissing or having a full-blown sex session. Let's try to summarize the story if I can. Show starts with this guy Sorn jerking off in a public place. A younger boy Jun is watching him and Sorn watches him. But he then says that "hey I see you are hard, let me teach you and kiss you " and the young boy gives...

This one is yet another campy cheesy horror comedy films, this time with drag queens chasing and fighting vampire bikers and rednecks. Yes, it is low budget, yes it has questionable acting, is cheap, stupid, predictable; the lovers of this genre may actually end up enjoying the film. I will be honest and upfront that these kind of films do not do it for me, so I didn't think much of it, but I can totally see if this fit was released in gay film festivals, it would have been lapped up by the audiences. Slay begins on the road with a performing troupe of drag queens on their way to a gig. The 4 of them believe that the venue is legendary gay bar in middle of nowhere, only to realize they misunderstood and are actually performing at a dive bar. This dive bar is run by an old guy called Dusty, despite most of his clientele being big buffy homophobic bikers. Swallowing their pride and their need for money , they decide to perform. Just as the show starts, the bar is descended upon by a ...

I had hopes from this film having read the basic premise, but somehow it just did not work for me. It felt amateurish and at times I was wondering if the idea was to make a serious cinema or comedy? It just doesn't hot the right notes, either of love or betrayal to its two main protagonists, which would have been the key to it all. Movie starts with Natalie having discovered that her husband Ernesto is having an affair and invites the person to the house. She is shocked to see that the person is actually a young boy and that her husband was cheating on her with a man. Daniel is a part-time sex worker, and Ernesto paid for his company before love began to bloom between the two as time went on, a love that was conditional on Ernesto continuing with his marriage. Just as she plans to confront him, she gets the news that her husband had had a stroke and is in hospital, she rushes there. Daniel hears it and also goes. Over the course of next few days, these two people connect on the tra...

This film is supposed to be a comedy thriller but honesty I enjoyed the film only in bits and pieces. It starts off almost serious about this gay couple desperately looking to become parents. It soon veers into a road film, to a series or murders, back to gay child adoption. Satire is clearly not a genre that I most related to. It could be fun if done right, but IMO this was not. Dom and Cole are a married gay couple looking to adopt a baby. While making videos about themselves, they are still waiting to get picked up by a potential mother. For their upcoming anniversary, they decide to take a Roman holiday, which would also double as their baby moon, give they are at very last stages. The dup have some anxieties about parenthood, but nothing different from anyone else. For their anniversary night, Dom's father's closest friend who is Italian has booked them into a dinner experience at some really popular chef in rural Italy. Meanwhile, the prospective mother chooses them as th...

Yet another of those overtly sweet college level drama with a hint of humor. It was a good change from the recent heavy dramas I have seen but having said that, the story here is barely there. It is filled with every regular BL trope imaginable. The series has 11 episodes each of about 40-45 minutes. The main story is between Sant and Jay, and of course there comes a third wheel and other situations. Sant is a college student who was raised by his grandparents. With his best friend, he runs a food channel. He has a sweet tooth and his tooth had been hurting a lot. So he goes to meet dentist Jay, but he has some kind of phobia (we later learn that his parents abandoned him at the dentist office). Jay takes a liking for Sant and starts to encourage him and get him out of his fear to finally take care of his teeth. But in the process Jay also falls for Sant and starts to pursue him. Enter Jimmy, an old friend of Jay, who now runs a cafe, where Sant joins as a part-timer, and sparks fly be...

Taiwanese BL series used to be comfort watching , but the last one I saw wasn't very good and sadly the bad please continue with this one. I think the problem is that they have not evolved with time in their storytelling methods. They still keep mandatory 2 couples who journey of love story we go through. There is a bit of drama thrown in. Glossy apartments, good looking actors and some random storyline background but the actual love story following the same tropes of enemies turned lovers or 'I love you so much but can never confess' trope. C'mmon guys, please give us something more. With 12 episodes each of 25-30 minutes, this one is still a significant time commitment.  Wang Zhan is a wannabe musician who is content with his life. Until one day he is forcibly kidnapped by his older brother to train him to take over the family funeral business. Wang had never had an interest in the work and is quite shocked why his brother would do such a thing.The kidnapper guys an e...

I am not sure I fully understood what this film was about. I mean, yes, I get that it was a story about a group of drag queen performers and their life, but I was quite confused between so many characters and what was the film actually trying to show. The plot tracks drag queens of The Bearded Mermaid cabaret, who put on a riveting show featuring singing, circus, and dancing—something never seen before in the small town of Dieppe in France. One night, a lonely fisherman stumbles into “The Bearded Mermaid,” a faded little cabaret that turns out to be anything but ordinary. He steps into a world of laughter, glitter and love that he totally embraces, opening up to these characters as joyful as they are morose. Run by a fiercely committed trio of drag performers - firecracker Sweety, anxious stage manager Beluga who is also the 'mother' of them all, and gentle aerialist Alonso - the cabaret is struggling to keep its doors open. Their dream? A glitter-filled, lip-sync-and-circus sp...

Watching a reality series focusing on a gay wedding is not really my cup of tea, but then I Amin a zone where I am watching as much varied gay content as I can these days and for some reason Thailand is churning out  gay content like its no one else's business. So here we are - A reality show where we witness a gay couple finally getting married after almost 10 years of being engaged, they can legally get married after Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage, along with full adoption rights, rights related to inheritance, health care decision-making, and more in 2024. The show is 5 episodes of about 30 min each. Porsch is a flight attendant and an actor. Arm is a social media influencer, a YouTuber with a huge following. Porsche initially proposed to Arm in 2014, six years after their relationship began. And with the legalization of same-sex marriage in Thailand, they decided that they will get married. This reality series focuses on the time...

It is a shame to see a series that started out so well has now become almost painful to watch and sit through with its latest season 3. Season 2 was also average, at best. The show, primarily about Adam, tried to mix humour and some heartfelt moments navigating through Adam's everyday life as a gay man. The writing here in season 3 has gotten weak, and some of the newly introduced characters were pretty bad actors. The dialog is long winded and often pointless, and the actors are clearly untrained and inexperienced, making many scenes difficult to endure. More on that later. This season has 7 episodes of about 18 minutes each. Season 3 has Adam has moved to Sydney for his work he does for Single, Out magazine. He is now visiting back home for few days. We are introduced to Ethan, Adam's 20 year old half brother who is an aspiring writer. The father asks Adam to see if he can get him some work at the magazine office. Surprised with the ask, Adam manages to get him a job, silentl...

There was a time some of the popular BL series would come with a special episode of sorts to show what happens after the couple gets together. This show takes it forward by actually creating a 3 part mini-series as a continuation of "Your Sky". These three episodes are just fluffy fillers, which pretty much is in the same zone as its parents show. The episodes are about 40 minutes each. Teerak (Rak) and Fah are a very happy couple, now that they have declared their relationship with friends and their families as well. Teerak's birthday is approaching and Fah wants to surprise him. All the friends get involved in planning this surprise, needlessly complicating things for additional run-time and comedy. and eventually Rak gets a wonderful surprise. Then Teerak wants to get Fah a present for his graduation but he wants to do with some of his own earned money and not from his dad, so he tries his best while again keeping it a secret from Fah. But Fah wants to get more and big...

Let's start with giving full marks to a very novel idea. A love story between a robot created using AI and a rich spoilt heir. Now on paper that does sound very interesting since this would be an interesting mix but sadly for me, after a promising first 3 episodes, my interest in the show kept dwindling after every episode. More on that later. With 12 episodes, each averaging to about 30 minutes, this does take sometime to watch and absorb. The more logic and brain you try to put in, the more you keep getting lost in the story, and not in a good way. I was watching a Taiwanese series after a while and my hopes were high. Maybe thats where things went wrong. The story is straight forward. We meet a rich spoilt heir to a rich father who cannot seem to control and keep his son in check. He hires and AI robot Ever 4, to be his son's personal butler. Ever 4 advocates for robot rights while revealing his quirky personality beneath a calm exterior. As Ever 4 bonds with his human compa...

This 8 episode mini-series from South Korea doesn't have too much of a lot to speak of in the first place. With just 8 epodes each of about 12-14 minute each, it still manages to stretch it , bring in love rivals as a source of conflict to bring some drama into the story. Nothing wrong with that, but if the narrative was kept simple and crispier, it would have made for an engaging show to watch. The show was released in two parts of 4 episodes each. Jaemin, a freelance writer, reconnects with an old friend from college Nami, who is also a writer. One night drinking at their apartment, they talk about how Nami used to be popular with girls. Jaemin reveals his admiration and one things leads to another and they share a kiss. When Jaemin meets a friend in a few days, he is told that Nami actually writes for a sex column, which Jaemin doesnt think of much. The duo meet again and even though neither of them has been with another man before, they decide to give it a go at their relations...

A gay man, his lover, and a diverse band of friends learn to strike a balance between old-world and new-generation values in post-war Lebanon. This film that came out back in 2011 bills itself as the first gay film to come out of Lebanon.  I have no ways to validate the claim, but in my opinion, calling it a gay film might be a little stretch, but two of the main six characters are a gay couple and yes the story does involve a lot around their struggle in the society. Fun fact: The filming of this Lebanese gay-themed film was opposed vigorously by members of the conservative community in which it was shot, with threats and acts of violence a constant occurrence. The film was completed only because of the intervention of military authorities, and post-production had to be done in the United States. We meet 4 friends hanging out. Jason, still traumatized by the loss of both of his parents in a car bombing; Louis , devastated over his recent breakup with his girlfriend; the guitar-str...

Checkered Shirt is a charming Korean mini series that beautifully captures the innocence and complexities of young love. The 8 episodes are short of about 8-10 minutes each, making it easy to binge-watch. Sadly, the ending of the show is very abrupt leaving many open threads. Either the show runners ran out of budget or there must have been some other story, because even if there is supposed to be a follow up season, this is not how you would end a season one of a show if you want to attract audience. The story is pretty simple and basic. Jeong U and his friend often hang out at a bar. They are both supposed to go to military soon, but Jeong U is still a virgin and wants a girlfriend. One day he buys a checkered short online from another. Guy, who happens to be also the waiter at the bar they hang out. His name is Han. An expected friendship son develops between the two. One drunken night, Jeoung U ends up drinking and staying over at Han's place where they end up kissing since Jeo...

Watching Christmas movies during holiday time just hit different. It's the weather, the atmosphere such that even the most ordinary films give you the warmth that the holiday seasons give you. Sadly, I missed watching the film when it came out and it's only now I am catching up with it. There was a Cheery Lane movie from Hallmark television in the last season and this time again they follow the pattern, where they show three different families form three different time periods who have lived in 7 Cherry Lane house. One of these three families is a gay couple whom we saw in the previous Cherry Lane family Mike and Zian. In present time, we meet Mike and Zian who now have a daughter. It's Christmas Eve and they are preparing for Christmas, each with a special surprise gift for the other. Zian is recreating a memory from Mike’s teen years with his father, and preparing a nice window decoration. Mike is going to surprise Zian with the arrival of his grandfather from the Philipp...

Warm Film (Topli Film) takes its title from an old-fashioned phrase ‘warm brother’ that used to be used widely to signify a gay man. It brings a selection of scenes and storylines in Serbian cinema that either have homosexual overtones or deal with queer stories. The idea behind this retrospective is to show that queerness always existed in Serbian cinema and therefore in society. The film goes on to question why reactions to queer stories are more extreme today than they were in the past. (Don't be fooled by the suggestive poster) You’d be surprised to learn that the first same-sex kiss in cinema history took place in 1911, in a Serbian film'The Life and Deeds of the Immortal Leader Karađorđe', where two soldiers kiss twice on the mouth. This was a traditional greeting at the time. The director of this documentary launches a casting for a “fake film” – one he’s never going to make. Instead, he will include scenes with actors in his documentary on queer elements in Yugoslav...

As expected a lot of films are being made set during the covid times. Taking the imposed restrictions around the circumstances of hotel quarantine, where when you travelled, one had to do a mandatory 14 day quarantine in a hotel, the film maker uses that as the story idea behind making this psychological horror thriller. I am not a big fan of horror and this wasn't really a scary horror film per se, but still at places it just felt to overstretched, which was bound to happen when you have a film which is almost just one character. Toby is an Australian actor living in US. He finds himself in a mandatory two week quarantine in a Brisbane hotel and is here to attend his father's funeral. He is trying to keep himself busy by doing online rehearsals for his play. Trapped inside this tiny room on his own, with no living soul in sight, Toby tries his best to stay on top of work and keep himself occupied. He also had to leave behind his boyfriend and it seems they are going through a ...

Based on the title, I was hoping that the film would be half decent, but seriously, the makers took a paper thin plot and I am amazed how they managed to make a full fledged film out of it. This film could easily have been wrapped up in a very quick short film. The film explores themes of sexuality, relationships, and identity 32 year old busy banker Roberto has a decent life going with his girlfriend Elia. Roberto is very well dressed, doesn't like clutter, neat freak etc. Things change when he meets a young college going kid Cris through an app. Cris comes over to his house a few times and they talk about multiple things while having drinks (assuming it's a way of Roberto delaying the moment of sex) and Cris making him rethink of his sexuality because maybe he is gay. One weekend when Elia is away, Cris spends the night and Elia shows up unexpected the next day. She doesn't think much but clearly this makes Roberto very uncomfortable with the situation and meanwhile Cris ...