Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

This interesting piece of documentary is essentially the history of the queer movement in Canada seen through an assembly of parades, marches and protests. Through rarely seen archival footage and first-person accounts, Parade brings to life pivotal moments that sparked Canada's 2SLGBTQ+ movement, honoring the activists and elders whose resistance led to the rights we have today. It opens with Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s famous statement about the government having no right in the bedrooms of the nation, preceding the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969. The film looks at the early Gay Liberation Movement, including the We Demand Rally that took place in Ottawa in 1971. From here, Parade takes us through infamous events such Toronto’s bathhouse raids, and protests in response to how the government was handling the AIDS epidemic. The film finally touches on the BLM activists who controversially shut down Toronto Pride in 2016 to protest the presence of uniformed p...

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 ...

This road trip movie is set in 1970 in Canada, when homosexuality although decriminalized, is not widely accepted. The focus of the film is two brothers, , focusing on the sharp contrast between each of their characters. What looks like a drama comedy in the beginning also ends up becoming quite emotional towards the second half of the film. Based on a true story of the director's grandfather and granduncle, this one was an interesting watch. Weldon is a reserved and somewhat grumpy plumber living a quiet life in rural New Brunswick. A few days after his father's funeral (in an opening scene, we are given a hint that he wasn't maybe liked much by his family), one night, he receives a phone call from the police in Toronto. His estranged brother, Perley, has been arrested for having sex with another man in a public park an the cops are willing to let this one slide if a family member picks him up. Due to the demands of his stubborn mother, Weldon drives down to Toronto to bai...

This is an intimate look into Vietnam’s quietly thriving queer and trans communities. Through a series of portraits, the director explores different individuals from various marginalized groups across Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) who are all trying to live their lives authentically. It follows an intimate collective of people who both challenge and reinforce traditional concepts of family and love within the LGBTQ community in Saigon. The one big thing to note here is that this documentary is made by a Vietnamese born director (but raised in Canada), which is quite a contrast as clarified by one of the participants saying "There are a lot of people who have filmed the Asian LGBTQ+ community but most of them don’t understand our reality and don’t get it right in their films." Family is at the centre of the film. A wedding is being planned. Relatives have to be won over. Parents adjust to their kids’ sexuality and get to know their new partners. Some of them dive headlong into que...

There are so few comedy stuff out there that every content that comes out is anticipated a lot. I did not know anything about this 6 part Canadian series, but I was happy to be pleasantly surprised. It is exactly the light queer kinda comedy we need right now. It is about relationships, the many and varied forms they can take, and the many and varied challenges and obstacles they present, both real and imagined. Each episode explores the challenges of queer love through new client stories, tackling themes of anxiety, commitment issues, and unconventional relationships. These clients and their stories reflect various topics about queer dating, love, and sex. Mason runs a podcast about love. Relationships and settling down while also running a match making business for queer personnel, a welcome change from the plethora of apps available. He has been married to Jarod for a few years , who has been very supportive of the business but of late Jarod feels that his work is more important for...

Three unconventional housemates - a daycare worker, an escort and a senior widow - navigate relationships and existential crises while supporting each other through mishaps and getting high together. Apparently this was an article that occurred in a magazine based on which the film makers decided to turn this into a fun fledged series. The show has been 2 seasons of 5 and 6 episodes respectively averaging at a 10 minute duration each. Ian, a day care worker running an after school program and his boyfriend Lamar (a nurse and a prostitute) move in with a scrappy old widow Delores in her house. The first season focuses more on the adjustments these three people are doing to be with each other, while getting to individually know them better. Ian gets berated by angry mums from the daycare he works at; Lamar meets a client he escorts for but the hookup goes sideways; and Delores has a private lesson with her choir director that gets steamy. Then pillow talk between Ian and Lamar turns into...

Finding one's identity and the search for love can be a difficult undertaking. For many in the queer community, the art of drag is used to gain a deeper understanding of oneself. Putting makeup on, dressing in glamorous outfits, and sporting luscious wigs can unlock an inner confidence. This French Canadian film Solo is not about a drag queen's journey but it explores the passionate highs and destructive lows of a doomed relationship, unravelling a fraught love affair before our eyes. Simon is one of Quebec’s premiere drag queens. His persona, is known for her fierce dance numbers and awe-inspiring outfits that are mostly prepared by his sister who he is extremely close with. His family including his father is also very supportive of his artistic endeavors.  He is also a successful makeup artist, so it appears that he has it all. But like most of us, he is also looking for love. Enter Oliver, a new performer in the same club and the duo very quickly fall head over heels in love...

This documentary delves into the phenomenon of adult entertainers creating, shooting and starring in their own productions, with popular and far-reaching platforms such as JustForFans acting as de facto film distributors that monetize these productions directly through their sites. JFF founder Dominic Ford, featured throughout the documentary, enthused about the project says "This documentary is important because it peels back the curtain of the ‘fan’ economy; it shows how empowering it is for male models to work on their own terms and become financially independent while doing something they love, safely from their homes." Men at Work explores the early days of ‘Porn Valley’ when performers made their fortunes through the studio system; that is, until the rise of the Internet shifted the industry’s onscreen offerings from VHS and DVD formats to free streaming via ubiquitous tube sites that effectively removed the ‘pay for your porn’ business model. With this, the rise of ‘cr...

The fruit machine was created as an ostensibly scientific way to detect homosexuals, so they could be fired from their government jobs or pre-screened before being offered employment in the first place. This was during the Cold War, and the prevailing fear was that homosexuals would be at a greater risk of blackmail by Russian spies. They needed to be identified and removed, the thinking went, so they wouldn't reveal the nation's secrets. This documentary throws some light on the homosexual witch-hunt of public servants and military personnel in Canada from the 1950s through the early 1990s and its effects on the people whose lives and careers were disrupted or destroyed by it. The first half of the documentary focuses primarily on the historical context of the LGBT Purge, including the Cold War. Intertwined with this historical section are the stories of a number of men Civil Service Purge survivors who were investigated and lost their jobs. The producers anchor the film in th...

Watching films from almost 15 years back feels so nostalgic. The time that were, the kind of independent films that were made with minimal budget and production and sometimes very amateurish acting and direction. They used to be a good mix. This film, even though had its heart in the right place and must have been ok watching when it came out, felt very jaded watching it now. A young boy Darren arrives who arrives in Toronto seeking a new life. Running out of money, and with nowhere to live, he quickly is befriended by a group of rent boys with whom he had locked eyes a few times during last few days. The give him shelter and food while he figures out next steps. The group has Alex, another young boy very dependent on drugs, hallucinates in sleep and someone who feels like a problem child. His boyfriend is Steve, mature of the two, loves Alex and genuinely takes care of him. And then you have the big guy who makes sure everyone does enough "work" to have fodder" He tries...

This indie feel film could have been so much more. But even in its almost 2 hours of run time, it takes forever to come to the point. The film is about a man in his early 30s discovering things about his sexuality, something we have seen plenty of time before. Is he bored, is he lonely, is he scared of relationship - there is no deep exploration of any of that. Sure love can hot you anytime, but what was it that this film was trying to say? The story is straight forward. Ryan, a man in his 30's works from home mostly and has a roommate. He is consumed by loneliness, living an uneventful life with a dull job that just about passes the time. Ryan is secretly struggling with his sexuality and finding comfort in online encounters with men, usually on video and never in person. At a birthday party for his friend Brad, Ryan meets Brad’s boyfriend Sam and the two hit it off. Ryan and Brad quickly become close and before either of them realizes it, they start having an affair. The next hal...

This Canadian documentary is about a Gay Asylum Seeker’s Struggle for Freedom and Survival. But more than that it is also about the group of these people who come together to help and support this man to settle down in a new city and new country. When 11 strangers from Vancouver’s LGBTQ+ come together to sponsor a queer refugee from Uganda fleeing persecution, they have nothing but the best of intentions. Together, they embark on a year-long quest for personal freedom, revealing how in a world where one must constantly fight for the right to exist, survival itself becomes a victory. What we see here is how it all plays out eventually. Canada is the only country that has a refugee program aimed specifically at LGBTQ persons facing persecution in their home country. The Vancouver-based non-profit Refugee Rainbow privately sponsors refugees under this program. For a new such refugee, a group of 11 people come together to form a 'circle' who will help support the refugee for one ye...

The documentary tries to build a timeline of Black queer activism in Toronto. Opening with a canonical scene of the disruptive strength of the women-led Black Lives Matter sit-in at the 2016 Toronto Pride Parade event, the documentary flashes back to the lesser-known beginnings of black queer resistance and gives us an opportunity to widen our understanding of the roots of the Black Lives Matter movement in Toronto. Our Dance of Revolution begins in the '80s at 101 Dewson Street. During that decade, writer/activist Makeda Silvera and her partner at the time turned the house into a collective residence for queer folks. Against the backdrop of the feminist movement, protests against police violence, the bathhouse raids and the rise of the AIDS epidemic, this collective of mostly queer women organized, worked, lived, loved and partied together. It became the birthplace for groups such as Lesbians of Colour (LOC) and Zami (the first Canadian group for Black Caribbean queer people). We ...

This documentary of under an hour explores touch based service businesses including cuddling, erotic massage, sex surrogacy and sex work. Some people venture into this line of work as a side hustle, despite having another full time job and for others this is their full time job. Like it goes for many documentary styles, we meet 4-5 folks who fall in this category and who for various reasons are into the business of providing these services.  We meet a cuddle expert, who talk sabot how he wasn't also aware of this service but now he gets clients who like this but the guy also emphasized on the importance of consent. We do overlook how little touch we get every day. And how it can be emotionally taxing as well trying to look for someone to be intimate with -- so hiring someone just makes a lot of sense. There is another guy who talks about how he provides mostly BDSM massage services and how he gets repeated clients and there is something there that he fulfills desires of his clients...

I am all in for slice of life films, especially when they center around dysfunctional families where you get to see some drama. But I am also not for films like this one, where literally nothing happens. The film is essentially about a young post-op trans woman who goes on a vacation wither parents and her sister.  And her inner struggle to stay independent while also enjoying the comfort of someone caring for her. And thats it. There is no conflict or discussion around her being trans, in fact, it's not even the topic here, which makes me wonder why was this character chosen to be trans and what was the whole point. IMO , this character literally could have been any age, any gender and it wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever. Renata is a trans woman, who has lost her job but not told her parents. She is on a week long vacation with her parents and sister. She is a person of few words, and ducks behind doors and absconds to the lake to vape and contemplate, her chin res...

Abu (father) is an autobiographical film about a gay son’s relationship with his devout Muslim father. Arshad Khan, the filmmaker and subject, examines how his father ABU went from an open-minded man to a devout Muslim and breaks down the reasons for such a radical change in personality. Issues of psychological, sexual and physical abuse, and the pangs of rebirth through migration and through coming out, are laid bare using over 30 years of archival family footage that give a glimpse into an extraordinarily well documented family. The story of the Khans begins around the time of Partition.  Arshad Khan’s father, orphaned, comes to the newly formed Pakistan with his siblings. Under the care of relatives, he gets educated, enrolls in the Pakistan Army, gets married and has a brood of children. He is among the few in his social circle to own a video camera, and he records picnics, home parties and festival celebrations. And many of the footage from these home videos is used. We are to...

I just finished watching the third and final season of this dark comedy drama. As I had mentioned in my previous post, thatches kind of situational and sharp comedy may not be everyone's cuppa tea and I know this, because I recommended this to a close friend of mine who cannot sit beyond the first two episodes of the show. But after the first two seasons, which personally I enjoyed quite a bit, I was looking forward to the final chapter. This. Time also the show is 8 episodes of 20-24 minutes each. The season starts with Sabi still reeling with two incidents: their father's death and the kiss with former boss/complicated friend Bessy. As always Sabi mean is good at keeping all of their complicated emotions bottled up and ignoring Bessy and her entire family.  Life is people around them also is show in detail. We see how the father's death has changed some family dynamics. Sabi's sister decides to move out and later in the season becomes pregnant, adding more to the dram...

Continuing from where season 1 left off, we follow Sabi's journey in the season 2 of this HBO Max original show. Just like first season, even this time, the creator and the lead actor Bilal Baig continues to deftly juggle silliness and sadness, often in the same scene and sometimes you dont know whether to laugh or feel sorry. It's a very interesting balance and if such kind of situation s comedy (with some very intelligent dialogues) is not your cuppa tea, then maybe you would not enjoy it too much. This season also has crisp 8 episodes with 20 minutes each. Sabi's love life, actually even their regular life is still difficult and complicated. Their Asian friend who had an accident last season is now recovering from coma and Sabi is still helping with nanny duties. The woman only has vague memories of her past life which creates interesting dynamics between her and her husband. While Sabi's mother has more or less accepted and come to terms with Sabi's gender ident...

As per the official synopsis of this show "Through the confessions of six professional pornstars, this humorous documentary series offers viewers an insider's look into Montreal's gay porn industry, a major hub on the international scene. Meet the actors, cult filmmakers, specialists in sex health, and model's entourage revealing all the secrets about the pornstar life." Spread over 10 episodes of about 25 minutes each, I wasn't vey sure what I am getting into, but I have to say that the candid confessions and the 6 chosen pornstars ended up being a lot more fun and informative to watch than cringe as I had thought going into watching this whole show. Meet Trent, Skyy, Guillaume, Edward, Teddy and River - the six pornstars of "Boy Boy Montreal." River and Cory Kane are doing a photoshoot together. Guillaume welcomes actors Teddy and Pierre Fitch for a spa at home. We see the steps that are taken and the business challenges when production companies w...

A coming of age drama centering around a Canadian-Asian teenager, who is torn between his girlfriend’s dreams of their future and his father’s ambition, all the while struggling with finding himself and following his own desires.. The film does have some standard tropes of coming out: attraction, then confusion, then hiding and then accepting. The film is not just about this teenager's coming out, but it's also equally about dreams of the whole family, what they wanna do, where they are and how they get out of it. Jake, our lead guy is a high school senior. He is constantly pushed around by his father to play basketball to make into the team, probably because of his own shattered dreams. But Jake is not very good at it and is honestly least bothered. He has a girlfriend for a while who is pressuring him to lose their virginity together, but for Jake it doesn't feel right. Something is off. Things change when a new boy Aleks moves across him, an out and proud gay boy who als...