Ben lusts after his bad boy classmate Johnny, but when he’s offered a ride home one night, what seems like a dreaming coming true descends into heartbreak. It’s the age-old high school crush storyline.
Starring Broadchurch’s Chris Mason, Wonderkid focusses on a gay professional footballer who’s struggling with his sexuality in the high-pressured and masculine world of the Premiership League. But as is much the case in Tinseltown, he’s living a lie, and upon his return he attempts to rekindle a closeted relationship from his past. I AM SYD STONE (2014)ĭirected by Denis Theriault, this 10-minute visual follows a Hollywood hunk as he returns home. Gay Times have rounded up just five of the best gay short films out there that you can watch online. From tackling the homophobic world of football, to a teacher exploring the sex party scene in New York City, they are touching upon real life emotions that your local Odeon is probably little way off from showing anytime soon. It’s perfect.While mainstream Hollywood continues to catch up when it comes to LGBTQ representation in blockbuster movies, there are plenty of directors out there highlighting issues within the gay community through slick visuals.įor now, some of the most compelling and hard-hitting LGBTQ cinema exists in short films. It’s romantic but not saccharine, sexy but never perverse, and funny in a way that’s accessible to all viewers while also including inside jokes for members of the community. It accurately represents the multitudes of the gay community while not being self-defecating. It’s performed as an a capella karaoke number by Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers, and Tomas Matos, and later repeated as a new dance track by Muna, guaranteed to be added to every pride playlist this season when it’s released on the film’s soundtrack.įire Island is everything I ever wanted from a gay rom-com.
The pop classic “Sometimes,” made famous by Britney Spears, becomes an anthem for the story. This extends itself to the “Fox Fanfare” during the Searchlight Pictures opening. The fun-loving “sisters” pull pop-culture references out of thin air in almost every group conversation, oftentimes bringing music into the equation. Music plays a big role in the film, not just as a soundtrack to set the mood.
Director Andrew Ahn enhances these themes through stylistic cinematography choices, with sunsets becoming a recurring visual theme for the finality of these circumstances. Elements of that theme are present in Fire Island, but the finality presented here is more about the end of this halcyon era for the “sisters.” Erin has squandered her fortune and will be selling her Fire Island home, making this the last summer she will be hosting the family.
In Pride and Prejudice, the sisters were in a race to find a wealthy match to save the livelihood of their family.
Nearly all of the characters are gender-flipped, with Luke, Keegan, and Max standing in for the other sisters (Lydia, Kitty, and Mary) and Margaret Cho representing both parents from the classic novel. Darcy, with Howie and Charlie representing Jane and Charles. The elements of Pride and Prejudice are easy to find for those who know the story well, but like the translation of Emma to Clueless, it still feels fresh and new. It shines a harsh light on the way the LGBTQ+ community divides itself from within based on a multitude of factors: body type, ethnicity, class, gender identity, kinks, etc… But through those themes, it also becomes a celebration of gay pride and learning to love yourself exactly as you are. Written by Joel Kim Booster, Fire Island is laugh-out-loud funny while also being romantic and thought-provoking. At the Tea Dance, a handsome doctor named Charlie (James Scully) becomes smitten with low self-esteemed Howie, so confirmed bachelor Noah becomes determined to set them up, unintentionally catching the eye of Charlie’s friend Will (Conrad Ricamora), whom Noah can’t stand. A week-long summer retreat to Fire Island is an annual tradition for Noah (Joel Kim Booster), Howie (Bowen Yang), Luke (Matt Rogers), Keegan (Tomás Matos), and Max (Torian Miller), who are each other’s chosen family with their “mom” Erin (Margaret Cho).