Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Comedian and content creator Benito Skinner writes, produces and stars in this sex-filled eight-episode look at coming out and finding yourself after high school. This Amazon prime series came a few weeks back and has been trending. I will be the first to an admit, like I do most time, I have no idea who Benito Skinner is. It's only when I started to watch the show and wanted to know about the actors, this is what I found. With 8 episodes of about 35-40 minutes each, I went in with quite high expectations and I am sad to say that by the end of it I was quite underwhelmed. We meet Benny, a former high school football hero and homecoming king who is struggling to accept that he is gay, let alone share his sexuality with anyone around him. Deep down he knows he is attracted to guys but he has deeply buried his sexuality under the weight of social pressure. He is now joining college at Yates where his older sister Grace and her boyfriend Peter. Peter immediately takes Benny under his w...

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...

The series Blur tells the story of a close group of friends formed during high school. But what happens after graduation? As their lives change, so do they, and so do the dynamics between them. Will they let go or stick together? The first season had 8 episodes of 35 min each. It I snot really a gay show, but there is a queer relationship quite prominent in the initial part of the overall story and again later, so I think it qualifies to be reviewed here. This is the story of Tommy, Tuur, Femke, Rune, Manon, Joren and Julie, a close group of friends that emerged during high school. Their group is called "Pigs". After graduation, as they spread their wings and get to know themselves better, how will the multiple events affect their life and their interactions with others. Manon and Joren are twin brother-sister. Julie is Manon's best friend dating her brother Joren for 4 years. Rune is the gay guy (more like gender fluid , in my opinion) of the group, who is spending more ...

If you’re looking for the perfect weekend movie that blends horror and comedy in all the right ways, The Parenting absolutely delivers. This film strikes a delicate balance, just enough jump scares to keep horror fans on edge, while packing in plenty of LOL worthy moments that make it a joy to watch. The film was premiered directly on HBO Max. With a simple premise and all the characters having their own quirks, this was a mindless entertainer joy ride right from the get-go. The film starts in 1983, where see a family of 3 being suddenly abducted by haunted power and they mysteriously disappear. Cut to current time and we meet Josh and his boyfriend Rohan who have rented the same house in the countryside for a weekend with both their families. They’ve planned this short trip to introduce themselves to each other’s parents, and their parents to one another, but Rohan has also been secretly planning to propose to Josh. The situation predictably goes awry: Rohan is tense and nervous, Josh...

Aah! This series would have been so much better if it stayed true to the concept it introduces us about 'parallel worlds'. Instead, they take audiences for granted and fool us into thinking one thing and then very conveniently squashing the whole idea to make it yet another love story which then has absolutely nothing to offer. The parallel world concept is what would have made the show stronger. A good premise ends up being a mess. With 10 episodes plus one special episode each of 55-60 minutes long, it's not like it's a quick watch. You spend all this time only to feel cheated was not good. Our characters are Cir and Phu. Cir meets with an accident and in hospital. When he wakes up, he is frantically looking for someone called Phu and shows up at his dorm. Phu has no idea who Cir is. But Cir seems to know a great deal about him. He says he is from a parallel universe where Phu and Cir are boyfriends and are together. Phu dismisses the whole idea and then Cir shares in...

This Korean BL series delves into an interesting world of passion as three suitors vie for the heart of a man named Daon. Sadly, the very definition of relationships seems to spell disaster for him. He was constantly played, dictated and his boundaries were pushed; simply because they couldn’t stand seeing with someone else. The story is quite intriguing I must say, especially as the layers peel. But it is also a bit confusing and convoluted at the same time. The show has 8 episodes, each of 35-40 minutes (which is quite a contrast from other regular Korean BL content). Told us through a few flashbacks, here is what I understood of the story. Daon works in a an office, and he is good friends with a college professor who he has known from college. This college professor is Mr Too Goody shoes and takes care of Daon a lot to an obsessive extent where he even gives money to his abusive father. Slowly Daon starts to get feelings for him, but when he confesses his feelings, the professor guy...

'Aichaku' means attachment in Japanese and this feels like a very appropriate title for this film. It was a very interesting film with a nice storyline and to an extent the makers did a good job of executing it. But still somehow something was missing to make this film really good. And I have thought hard on it and I still cant out my finger at the 'what'. Anyway, it's a unique take of being gay in countryside Japan and also what is it like for a foreigner to live in Japan. Lukas is an American expat living in countryside. He is an English teacher but can barely make ends meet. He dreams of buying a roadside cafe which is up for sale but can't afford it. His landlady secretly hopes that she can hook her daughter up with Lucas to marry him, since she has already spent time in US doing her graduation. In the same town, we meet Ken, who is half Japanese. His mother left him and went back to US when he was one year old ands father committed suicide. His uncle raised...

Write what you know, as the saying goes - so if you don’t know it, do the research. Take cue from this. Saying, this film is a wonderful exploration of a young queer writer, hoping to write his first novel, but his way of research ends up being him actually joining the world of sex work and what does that do to him personally and professionally. This film is a very interesting take on modern day love, sex and ambition. The story is about 25-year-old Max Williamson. He works as a freelancer writer in a London literary magazine. He has also published a couple of short stories and is also working on writing his first novel about male gay sex workers. What his publishers and friends do not know is that Max's written assignments and novel draft -describing a gay escort's encounters with men- are not based on interviews but on his personal experience. At some point Max has becomes Sebastian in the online escort world. We witness this in the first scene when Max (as Sebastian) gets hi...

I am not much of a video game fan, but like me, if you were trying to avoid this film, because of that, STOP! This film is actually pretty decent. It is a compelling look at how a video game can provide not only entertainment, but a sense of community for those lacking it in their real lives. It's about the loss of love, safety, and human interaction. The video game is just the catalyst for it all, and it all actually ties in pretty good. I found myself liking the film. Pablo and his sister Apo are very close siblings. They both have been playing a game called Darknoon, a fantasy role-playing game that has no real aim, but provides an alternative world in which you can create an ideal version of yourself, and run around fighting battles, slaying monsters and meeting other characters. But it is announced that Darknoon will soon shut down for good. While Pablo doesn't care much, she is devastated by the idea, especially since all her connections have been in the virtual world. Pa...

“What About Me?” is a bold, short-form dark comedy series about queer grief, identity and Hollywood absurdity. Its 6 episodes each roughly about 10 minutes premiered on YouTube and is a rollercoaster of emotions navigating between grief, depression, comedy, family absurdity; while the story itself felt both relatable but absurd and silly. It's a short form but production was top notch and so was acting and direction. The story starts with a funeral of Jake, whose sister Jill is giving the speech. We are introduced to Josh at the same time, sitting in a toilet cubicle, browsing a gay hook up app. Turns out Josh and Jake were twins, with vastly different lives. Jake was straight, a famous Hollywood actor; while Josh is gay and a bakery supervisor. With Jake passing away now, every family member including mother, grandma, sister and most importantly his shadow, his twin brother Josh would need to confront their unresolved feelings - all while grieving. The sister finds out she is preg...

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...

Oh my!! This series shows teen angst in such detail and deep, especially in today's world of social media and TikTok; being a teenager is something I absolutely do not miss. Remember the days, when you don't know if your crush likes you back or not, or you wait for hours to hear a response back to your message. To not have to second-guess and burn in your own self-imagined hell of rejection, before even a confession can be made. All this and more is shown frustratingly well in this series. Although you feel like shaking these teenagers every time they do something stupid, because it's like A likes B, who likes C, but C likes D, and D likes A while some of these are close friends too. This is a royal teen mess, sometimes in the truest sense of way. 7 episodes each about an hour or longer.  We have four main characters here. Fou4Mod starts to crush onhis senior Chian since he sees him at the train station. The two start bond by getting their nails done together, however, Chia...

This gay film has a lot that it unpacks. Tackling with the deep themes, such as budding love, the unsaid, the complexity of adolescence and the cruelty of bullying, the film is an interesting take. Set in two different timelines, the film is set in early 2000's with taking a flashback into the summer of 1983 when the two protagonists Paul and Joseph met. The sensitivity with which the sincere portrait of adolescence is drawn up in the first part and the reunion 20 years later of Paul and Joseph having made their adult life a vibrant, this touching story remains intact in their relationship despite the vagaries of life. On his wedding day, Paul's very pregnant wife surprises him by inviting an old friend of his Joseph, whom he hasn't seen for almost 20 years. With the burning memories of their meeting that summer of 1983, Paul is overwhelmed by doubts about the choices of a lifetime and the emotions of this forbidden relationship. Back in 1983, we see Paul was a shy teenager...

While we expect shows from Taiwan to be quite nice, this one disappoints. The story is full of clichés, nothing new is told and it's the same old love story. No attempt has been done to detail out any of the characters and the story is just super simple. Honestly, I expect more from Taiwan. Having said that, its a cute little love story that gives you slight warm feelings but once it ends, you are left with nothing at all, and that's because this show doesn't offer anything new or different. The series is 9 episodes of about 30 minutes each. Since it is going to be hard to remember names, I will address them by their characters. A college art student is grappling with making something beautiful. His professor sends him to a coastal town for one month as a substitute art teacher, also hoping that he will get some inspiration to finish his art project. There he mets the homestay owner and his younger brother who studies art in the local school. This younger brother and the co...