Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

I have mixed feelings about this film. My problem is that the more I see films that likely made their debut in international film circuits, the more I am realizing that these art house or "different" film makers end up going so different in treatment of their subject that sometimes it fails to connect at various levels. This film seems more concerned with shock value than telling a compelling story. Johan is an openly gay man working at Copenhagen’s only gay sauna. When he’s not pursuing the sauna’s clientele, he’s hooking up and having one night stands with random men at the bars. One night of browsing Grindr leads to Johan meeting William, a trans man, at his home. But Johan is so sexually motivated that he doesn’t even realize that William is trans until they begin having sex, which leads to an awkward uncertainty. Nevertheless, Johan finds something exciting about William and pursues him. They start seeing each other and a casual romance evolves. When Johan takes William ...

This film is a story of a 16 year old young teen who is suffering, is lonely, prone to self-harm and worse. This story of our protagonist doesn't give us much data on what bruises or tragedy from childhood pr past he is carrying with him and the way one summer unfolds takes him into a vortex of degradation, humiliation and masochism which hurts just to watch it. Tobias is a young 16-ish year old introverted young man who loves skateboarding and is eager for love. His mother doesn’t have time for him,  so she sends him to spend the summer with his out-of-town grandparents. His grandfather is a glassmaker who teaches his grandson the basics of the profession; his grandmother has dementia, but she gives the boy the little affection his parents fail to provide. When granny's health takes for worse, he goes off for few days to his father's place but he is also busy with his new family and has been equally absent. The summer days seem to drag on forever; there’s nothing to do in ...

I am surprised that I had not heard of this mini series that came out back in 2020. Clearly the show did not get as popular as some of its counterparts, but I still think it deserves viewing. Pulse follows a group of seven friends in a sleepy, indeterminate suburb somewhere outside of Copenhagen, whose entangled lives unravel when secrets they carry unwantedly begin to emerge. The foal point of the story is about a gay relationship and to what extent some people go in the name of holophobia. Some of it may feel a little over the top in today's time but I would like to think that prejudice is still very much prevalent even in some parts of so called first world countries. The show was released in two seasons with 9 episodes each ranging from 12-15 minutes, so its a pretty easy and decent watch. Let's first understand all the major characters here. Samir and Bastian are best friends, and both are on the school basketball team, together with Bastian’s brother Adam and their classm...

The fact that this film came out back in 1978 in itself is a big surprise to me. Sure, from a story perspective there may not be much going here, but again the fact that the film was made years ago is HUGE deal. The life of gays and transvestites portrayed with empathy in a comedy that has Bent, a factory worker, as its main protagonist. We meet his mother, who makes no bones about having always wished for a daughter rather than a son; his closet days at work; and his let-it-all-hang-out off hours with kind. Brent, an aging gay man is the main protagonist of the story. He is a huge fan of his mother, whose used to be a famous artist and is now on death bed with cancer. He has lived in the shadow of his famous mother all his life, and is constantly trying to survive and find out who he really is by stealing and doing odd jobs here and there. Along the way, we meet his group of eccentric and quirky friends, who might be a bit more colorful than most people. A woman friend who runs a bar,...

Taking a break from Asian BL (and yes, I desperately need that), I just finished watching this 4 episode Danish mini-series about two young boys who join a “man camp,” only to embark on a complicated exploration of masculinity, sexuality and queerness. With about 15-20 minutes of each episode, this was such a welcome change from BL stories. It’s a sensitive, yet heart breaking and poetic glimpse of a small, hyper masculine provincial town in Denmark as one boy feels pressure to fit in with other boys, while struggling with his romantic feelings for a charming new boy. Shy and awkward teen Lau is on an all boys weekend trip to the woods called as "Real Man" camp. Together with two adult counsellors, the weekend s going to be a series of challenges and tasks that will prove that these boys are ready to become men and there will be one winner. Years back, Lau's father who dies when Lau was young won the competition and his friend (one of the counsellors) is motivating Lau to...

The Danish Boys is a new short film collection. Featuring 5 shorts from Danish directors to watch, the release showcases rising talent in front of and behind the camera. Each short tells a very different but compelling story, giving glimpses into the lives of young gay men living in Denmark. Hotel Boy Young Samir accompanies a politician Stefan to a hotel room. Samir is ready to abandon his life and go all in with Stefan, thinking that his politician lover is ready to give up his family and live as an out gay man. What starts off as an excited hook-up soon turns into an argument as Samir realises that he had read far more into his relationship than he should have done. It captures the feeling of being young and in love, unable to see what’s pretty clearly right in front of you. Poz Now this was a weird short film. A troubled young man Oliver is searching for a solution to his problems and a way to ensure his sister's continued support. He ventures in a destructive path, where he sl...

This is not about a gay story, instead its a gut wrenching and a very heart warming story of a refugee's life who happens to be gay, which makes things even more complicated for him than others. This need of the hour film made with a blend of animation and archive footage tells an immensely powerful tale of a gay Afghan survivor. We meet Amin, who his telling his story for the first time ever to his film maker friend Jonas. This is something that he has not shared with anyone. The story of his fleeing his home country Afghanistan and how he made his way in Denmark eventually. You expect the narration to be harrowing but thankfully its also very humane at the same time. Amin is a kid growing up in Kabul, when he along with his family have to flee in 1989 after the civil war. He, along with his elder brother, two elder sisters and the brother manage to reach Moscow to seek refuge.  Amin, through his conversations with Jonas, talks about his attempts to get out of Moscow with the pers...

First thing first. This is not at all an easy film to watch. I have never wanted to turn off a film because it made me uncomfortable. This film does that to you. It's uncomfortable, revolting and its depressing. I have a seen a couple of incestual and also pedophilic behavior films, but the kind of discomfort and traumatic representation this film does, you should be prepared for what is to come and a lot of scenes WILL be hard to watch. Aske and his brother Bastian are very young. We soon see that their father doesn't mind pimping his 11 year old son to his friend Hans for some money, which leads us to believe that the father himself has been abusing the child bot physically and sexually. When the mother finds out, she ends up in an accident and dies, leaving the 2 brothers at the mercy of their father. Five years pass and we see that the father is a drunk man still verbally and physically abusing the kids. Aske makes sure he takes as much care for his little brother Bast...

This film was such a pleasant surprise. Having known nothing about the film, I was looking forward to actually another bad gay film but man was I proved wrong! And I am so glad that I was. I have watched  a few films about gay men trying for adoption and surprisingly they have all been made very well. This is yet another film falling in similar genre, again handled with lot of sensitivity, grace and realism. Thomas, is a single gay man from Denmark. When he is unable to adopt a child in his home country legally, he comes up with an alternate plan. He visits his close friends family in Brazil hoping to explore the possibility of bringing back a child. He meets lawyers but there is apparently no direct ay to do this. A lawyer even suggests him to may be lure a poor woman with some money to buy the child. Thomas' friend very strongly try to reason with him son how he is being silly but Thomas is so bestowed with the idea of bring back home a child, he really doesn't care. He ...

This was a very very odd film. It was like a cross between a film and a soap opera. It was shot like a soap, with 10 min incidents which would be followed by a quick summary by a narrator (just like it happens in a daily soap). Unfortunately, the movie was s lethargic as would be a daytime soap, with no direction as to whatever. And then the movie abruptly ends, just like  a daily soap would end when sponsors would have no more money to pump in. Charlotte decides to randomly move out of her husband's house because she in unhappy. We don't know the real reason. She moves to a shitty neighborhood and even as the husband tries to find out what went wrong, she is too busy thinking just about herself. She just wants to be alone. One day she meets Veronica, who lives one floor below her. Veronica is MTF and is waiting for a letter from the authorities to get her operation done. Initially Charlotte mocks her but slowly they start becoming cordial with each other. They keep going ...

This film is an escape to a time lost forever. A film about life, misery, love, happiness, achievement, sex and about understanding. This film takes you into the lives of young teenage kids in a boarding school and their everyday lives and mischiefs and their daily dealings with their situations. It is wrong to put this film as a gay cinema because although it does explore homosexuality in growing teens with sensitivity, it is just another aspect of the film. That itself does not make the film. Bo is a 15 year-old boy who finds himself smitten with Kim, who is younger and extremely handsome. Bo lives in boarding school with some other friends who all have some or the other individual stories going for them. Kim more than reciprocates Bo's interest and they eventually end up becoming good friends. Kim is the son of school principal. Aske puts the educational system in the limelight and leads the rest to discover why young people can think and do. Bo is a good friend who will always ...

Although this is just a 30 minute short film, it definitely deserved a separate entry in my blog. 'Cute' was the first word when I was 5 minutes in the film and it ended the same way. In between it had its bittersweet moments but in my opinion a very well handled overall theme. The interactions and relationships between two individuals who are very different from each other in every which way be it age, likes, sexual orientation and how it ends.  The film is kind of 3 acts and shows the three summers over a span of 3 years. Jørgen lives abroad, but every summer he comes back to Denmark with his wife. He invites, as usual, his neighbours and their teenager son,Thomas, for dinner at his place. Only, this time there is a strange tension in the air between the adults. After dinner, Jørgen and Thomas go to the beach for a walk. They discover that both have secret problems, and the fact they cannot talk about them is creating great stress. They decide to share a secret each. Thomas t...

Now that was a complete surprise. A film that you would have not expected to go the way it did. It makes you think, you sometimes feel for the characters but you also feel repulsed by some of the acts they did. The movie was intense, it was gripping and it keeps you hooked throughout. You wanna know what is going to happen next. I was very pleasantly surprised with this film. Lars has just quit army because he could not get promoted to being a field sergeant. One day when he is hanging out with friends, he meets some people from a new-Nazi group who are all about just having pure white people led by Michael known as Fatty within the group. Everyone and everything else is against the nature. Initially, Lars distances himself from their ideology and methods, but fuelled by defiance against the system in general - and his parents in particular - Lars decides to join the group. Michael for some reason think that Lars has potential even though his right hand man Jimmy does not agree. Soon L...

This film was actually a short film (about 40-45 minutes) long but it was still beautiful to hold your attention and pass on a message. A sexual awakening of sorts for a young teenage boy. 16 year old Carsten has just started dating Melissa. He is introduced to her parents who have an instant liking for him and they welcome him very warmly in their house. There is a warmth and tension that Carsten finds in her father. On a weekend trip to their summer house, Carsten cant control and ends up kissing her father who returns the favour but quickly backs off. There is then a strange tension between them. Carsten is confused and visits Melissa's house when he knows only her father would be there at home. after initial awkwardness, he starts crying because he is truly confused as to what is wrong with him and he can't figure out. The father gives him his shoulder and empathizes with him and soon they are making out. They are disturbed by Melissa and the mother but no one sees any...

Another one of those typical gay movies but with a little twist here. Contrary to most movies, here a gay guy suddenly realizes his passion for woman and the trouble starts. Jacob and Jorgen are a gay couple who have been together for a long time. On his birthday, Jacob asks Jorgen to marry him. Celebrations are on but something happens the same night. Jacob falls in love with Caroline who is not just any girl but is wife of Jorgen's younger brother Tom. The life suddenly get complicated. Jacob and Caroline both try to fight it but they are helpless as they are very passionate about each other. Jorgen finds out about it and gets devastated. He gets in an accident and loses one eye. Jacob apologizes and ays he will not meet Caroline but Jorgen later finds out that all the time he was in hospital, Caroline and Jacob were sleeping together. He is devastated. They break up. Meanwhile Caroline gets pregnant and she also leaves home. Jacob and Caroline decide to get married. But on the w...

'Smukke dreng' ('Pretty Boy') is a film about a 13 year old runaway boy Nick. Rather than living with his mother who has a very active sex life, he decided to run away to live on his own. On his first night he encounters a gang of young men abusing an older guy. After that he gets the old man's name and address and shows up at Ralph's place. Sharing a common interest for stars, they live together for a while till Ralph's wife shows up and he has to move out. The film doesn't show any sexual activity between these 2 guys Nick then starts working for an older guy Max who buys all the stolen stuff that the gang of young men steal and snatch. One time, Max refuses to budge to unacceptable demands of the gang and it results in his arrest for buying stolen goods after the gang reports about it. After this Nick has nowhere to go so he ends up with the gang of young boys. The gang is led by a girl named Rene who poses as a boy.Rene and Nick discover each other s...