Marco Berger has come out with another movie that’s really beautiful and sexy, but it’s definitely not like the ones he usually makes where guys are just full of sexual tension. This one is filmed in black-and-white and looks amazing. The director found a really weird way to show how humans connect and how sexuality works by using a "man as a dog" idea. It’s a pretty strange but interesting movie that makes you think. The story takes place in a world that’s parallel to ours, where two straight couples are on vacation on an island. You see two guys on a boat calling out to someone, and then this naked, lonely, and really good-looking guy shows up. In this dreamy kind of world, the group calls him a "man," but he basically acts like a pet dog. In this setup, the word "men" refers to naked male humans that people own as pets, just like we own dogs. People are scared of stray men just like they're scared of stray dogs. There are also "women" who ...
.jpg)
Julian and Kyle are a happy couple and just engaged. Julian is successful but Kyle wanting to become an interior designer is stuck in a dead end job and he thinks his family doesn't get him, despite having a very loving sister and brother-in-law. One evening while partying both Julian and Kyle are introduced to crystal by a guy named Dusty. Julian recovers but next thing we know is that Kyle is addicted. Julian tries his best to save Kyle but fails and ultimately throws him out of house. When his family refuses to take him in, he moves in with Dusty and his girl friend Maia who lives with her granny. Living the life of drugs and substance abuse, Kyle starts soon realizing that he needs more money to continue addiction. Dusty, supposedly straight, starts doing prostitution with Kyle to make more money for drugs. Maia is the most balanced mentally regardless of her addiction and everything going on in her life. She somehow holds the group together. All three of them are trying to escape reality. Maia and Kyle get a shock when Dusty falls terrible sick and dies. It doesn't change them but makes them think. Kyle ultimately reaches out to his father for help.
As I mentioned earlier, the film goes through phases of being very boring to meaningful. The subject is very relevant even today and must be watched but I wished as a movie there was more to this. Chemistry between Kyle and Julian was seriously lacking. Kyle looked and acted like an addict even before he started taking meth. Guy who plays Julian is same as he is in every single film. Dusty and Maia were actually much better characters and actors, specially Dusty who had a certain vulnerability about him. Kyle is shown to become an addict within minutes. The build up is missing and is so essential for a story like this. For a couple who were about to get married, Julian just leaving Kyle randomly was not justified at all. I doubt a gay man at his peak will take meth and just spend all his time at home rather than partying, so in that sense , I miss some sense of realism. The end again was very abrupt and sudden. Both Kyle and his family's decision to suddenly reconcile was vague.
There has to be better films on addiction in gay circle but till then his is not too bad. It might not be very interesting but in the second half the film does show you the evils of meth addiction very effectively. (5/10)
Comments