Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Wren Boys (UK) It’s the day after Christmas, and Father Conor, a priest from County Cork, drives his nephew to prison to visit one of the inmates. The surprise is that the nephew is there to marry his boyfriend who is in prison, but within the prison walls different rules apply, and life is often overshadowed by the threat of violence. What a brilliant short film!! In such a short time, the way the characters arcs are developed and shown are sometime not reached in full fledged films.  Adán y Esteban (Argentina) A simple short of two best friends, one getting drunk on a night and seducing the friend. The friend meanwhile was always into him. The next morning they get into discussion around random things. Two bodies that meet in the middle and a sunrise that sheds light on fears and evaporates them with the sun's rays. Good nudity with full penis shots was the only good thing in this otherwise average short film. Invincible Summer (Belgium) One hot summer evening. Alone at home, by ...

This was such a pointless series and a show that need not exist in the first place. With low production quality, the acting is non-existent, the plot is pedestrian, the whole thing is filmed on an iPhone, the editing is incompetent, the sound is poor, and there's no ending. It just... stops. The show thankfully is just 4 episodes of about 40 minutes each, so the torture doesn't stay long for you. Nut works at a small advertising agency. His colleagues and grinds are a girl So, a guy named Mick, who he has been friends with for 6 years. Mick has a secret crush on Nut. Nut's feelings for Mick are unclear to us. For a new competition, the Boss hires his relative/consultant to work with this team so they can potentially win the award which will be bog for the company. Apparently Guy had seen one of Nut's previous work called "Loveless Society" and was quite inspired by the creator and that is why he also wanted to work with Nut on this collaboration. Guy does come...

This was such a bad film. The version I saw had bad subtitles, but I bet you that even if they were good, my views on this film would not have changed. This is a prime example of the makers trying to make a very niche indie gay film, but it is so pertain plot, so full of over the top drama, bad acting and bad direction and just all around a bad bad feeling. Francesco is a 4o year old man who lives with his sister after their parent's death. During covid he finds out that his company has closed so he now needs to find a new job. After getting many multiple rejections because of his age (bizarre!), one of his friend gives him an idea to become a male prostitute. Horrified by the idea, he eventually gives in when he needs money. He tells his sister and neighbours lie that he has gotten work in a hotel. One day one of the clients kisses him on lips and that changes Francesco. He suddenly feels a sense of love. Next thing you know this client is taking out Francesco for dates and they a...

This intriguing documentary is a very affectionate profile of Brazil’s growing  gay leather community. Through a quick backstory and a highly amusing parody, we find how Barbudo became the very first winner of the Mr Leather title in 2017, and now the de-facto organiser of the second ever competition that is the subject of the film. The film maker uses an expressionistic approach to tackle the subject, making it quite different from a typical documentary. Thirteen years ago when the mysterious Mr D started the first leather night in Sao Paolo only one other person turned up.  Barbudo.  Now it is one of the most important leather parties in the country. It's time for the second competition in 2019 and we have 4 contestants. The documentary trails the four contestants vying for the title we  get the feeling that this is still quite an intimate affair where everyone knows everyone else. At the Leather Dinner that precedes the competition everyone is decked out in their ...

This love story feels like a typical love story, but it flips on you towards the end, which was a pleasant surprise. I may not have understood the end 100% but I think I have gotten just of it. That said, the film does feel like a very long short film of sorts. It's essentially a gay road trip film where you are two guys, going through their own issues come together for love. Starting on a Tuesday night, we meet Noah, an introverted young engineer who needs to take pills due to a traumatic experience and has visions of a child. Next to him in Lohan, a tattoo artist and an asthmatic who likes to smoke and they both are apparently on a road trip with their best straight friend couple. A bond grows between the two men during the trip, they have fun visiting a church where Noah sits and Lohan confesses his impure thoughts, there is a first kiss after a Karaoke night, and there are arguments while bowling.  As days go by they get to know each other while moving from one place to another...

It feels like this film took a cue from the Italian gay films made by Ferzan Ozpetek, which are some of my favorite films by the way. The film places us in the privacy of a comfortable Buenos Aires house where a group of friends meet to celebrate the seventieth birthday of Alejandro, Pedro's partner and the couple have been together for many years. The film is a celebration of sexuality, friendship and how times have changed. As you would expect, relationships evolve as truths about love, loss, and societal shifts emerge, exploring complexities that bind people together. It's Alejandro's 70th birthday and him and his partner Pedro are throwing a dinner party. What follows is the audience meeting s group of friends and what their relationships are with each other and everyone else. First to arrive is a straight couple who have been close friends. But we soon find out that the wife is extremely unhappy in her very boring wedding while her conservative husband is stuck in his ...

I remember enjoying Durango series a lot and was hopeful that there will be follow up to this. I got my hands on second season titled "Rūrangi: Rising Lights". In addition to the tile we also saw some actors changing from original season. Caz's friend/boyfriend Jem and his father are now played by different actors; but that doesn't impact the show negatively in any way. At 5 episodes of about 20 minutes each, this show is still very much worth a watch. The first season concluded on a cathartic, hopeful note. And, while it was clear the characters would still have significant external conflicts ahead, they seemed to have resolved most of their inner turmoil by the season’s end. Season 2 focuses less on main character Caz but in the town and its issues more. We see the struggles of town mayors modernizing the town while Maori people trying to fight for their motherland. We slowly see the town starting to get behind banning of the chemical fertilizers. We still see Cam a...

Scruffy and very messy, this resolutely ridiculous English-language comedy from Germany, is so incredibly random that trying to find a coherent story amidst the chaos is actually impossible. I guess the makers were trying to make a satire with a very awkward approach. I will admit that satire is not my favorite genre, but if done right, it can be very entertaining. This film sadly falls flat at many places and jokes don't land. It's like as if the writers were high or something while "writing" this mess of a script. Father Andy Gaylord invites his friend Captain Faggotron because he knows someone called Queen Bitch, an alien from another planet, is hellbent on making Earth homosexual. Through flashback, we are told that Andy and Queen Bitch are ex-lovers but Andy never wanted to accept his homosexuality and they break up. And now Queen is teaming up with his outer-space cohort to turn Earth into a homosexual planet, by staging a staggeringly profane ceremony at the mo...

This 10 episode Vietnamese gay family series is actually quite fun to watch. It feels like this show is a sequel of sorts to Tien Bromance, a very confused show 2020. Its got same characters, actors and extended storyline, but so much better than the original one. The episodes are about 18-20 minutes each. And the show primarily shows us everyday joys and trials of a gay couple navigating through life and raising their young child. We meet Tai and Tien again who are now living in a suburban home with their 6-7 year old son. Tien still works in some sort of gang/mafia and Tai is a teacher. There is really not much of a story here. We see multiple issues that these young parents try to navigate e through, while also making sure their relationship and love still stays strong. We see how they both care about their son, there are some funny situations when they both have trust issues, the way Tai treats the mafia gang members when they come (like a jealous housewife), the occasional baby si...

A film about sexually and love confused individuals, this film explores a very toxic love stories between a few group os people linked somehow, where they claw their way towards each other's love and approval to the point of death and destruction. The first half intriguingly depicts the characters’ various stages of secrecy, denial and bewilderment; while the second half felt like a very confused screenplay to me where the film maker was not sure where to take the film. I am gonna use the roles instead of names, otherwise it will get very confusing for me. The film starts with two men on a trip where they spend time and make love with each other. Turns out they were being followed by a 'photographer' to follow her 'husband' and the 'lover' because she suspected him of having an affair. What completely shocks here that this person will be a man. Out of anger and respite, she barges into the 'lover's' office and creates a scene. This makes the love...

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...