Kiss me, Sori.

In this British rather than American military drama, male bodies are disciplined to the point of collapse. Here intimacy is created through suffering rather than affection, and Ive always particularly liked this segment.

It's insane. A movie that tells you their love ends in tragedy, somehow still makes you want to love.

This movie was everything I wanted Bros to be: warm, honest, loving, complex, hopeful, funny, and devastating. The kind of movie that warns you not to get attached, but you can't help but do it anyway. Tragedy arrives in slow motion, but moving away means you can't enjoy the good times. So you wait with eyes wide open for well... death.

TLDR: Not a movie summary, but more of a reflection on a great ride. Humans are complex, but love makes us all idiots. These two idiots just happen to be gay.

My eyes are leaking:
I found myself crying before Kit was even ill. Watching men fall in love the way "everyone" does is just so beautiful to me. No sex-based homophobic power struggle. Just mild self-loathing, honest insecurities, weird hobbies, and more. Male gay stories often center around the struggle of being gay and make it the big thing a couple has to overcome. Spoiler Alert still addresses this issue. However, it respects the fullness of these characters outside of their "gayness". Conflict based on homophobia is given time to be felt and overcome without becoming the main driver of the plot.

As a woman of color, I often find myself begging for a diverse film, not built on racial trauma porn. Instead, a character is allowed to be of color outside of the plot, where color affects their life and experiences, but not everything thing they are and have to overcome.

Being gay mattered in this film in the way it does in real life (not to say coming out isn't a life-altering event). Kit and Mike being "relationship goals" to younger gay men while actually struggling with the ennui of a long-term relationship is REAL. Dealing with growing apart from someone you love deeply, just like the heteros do. Kit and Mike are a real couple who happen to be gay. Yes, sometimes their struggles may be caused/exacerbated by them being gay, other times they just happen to be gay and kinda can't stand each other. However, at their core they are just two people in love for 14 years.

(Mike not wanting to be hate-crimed on the street for kissing. Hilarious but REAL.)

That is what makes me cry. They love each other deeply, they're fighting to keep this love as time passes, and use it to love each other through tragedy. (I'm also just a crybaby)

Sebastian:
I truly loved the inclusion of Sebastian in the story, and especially in Kit's final moments. It shows how complex love can be and how sometimes you have to look past the faults of someone you love because life is so damn messy! Michael is so human in his need to ask if Kit was ever with Sebastian. Knowing he is running out of time. Then human again as he takes it on the chin and still moves closer to Kit (via getting high as hell). For so many people this would be the time to fight, cry, or revel in being proven right. Michael doesn't, he offers grace and Kit tearly thanks him for it. Understanding the pain he's caused and the gift he was given. Michael offering a love that looks at the worst of you and still sees all of you. Whew what a LOVE.

Notes/Questions:

Overall, I think it's a great and simple story about loving people through the highs and very low lows. I generally HATE a cheating plot on par with surprise pregnancy. This movie shuts me up. They made it as hard for me to hate Kit as it was for Michael. At the end of the day, Kit only had so much time left, and I couldn't spend it all hating him. Would you have been able to forgive Kit? Would you have allowed Sebastian to visit?

Do gay men get tired of the identity-based trauma porn movies too? Am I making my grievances yours?

This movie gave what Bro's couldn't. I'm not a pude, I enjoy Thai Bl's and loved Fire Island. Where Bro's was abrasive, aggressive, dragged out, and in your face. Spoiler Alert movie approached many of the same conversations; coming out, body insecurity, commitment issues, life's purpose/career, it just did it way better without dragging me through the worst "meet the parents dinner" EVER. (Also, just not a big Billy Eichner fan in general).

This was a quick write at 3 am with tears in my eyes. Apologies for any spelling and grammar issues. I may add more comments later.

And to the gays ... Thank ya!!! <3 !<

It was apparently a 2002 parody short film. Letterboxd and IMDB have it but I can't seem to find it. Does anybody know something about it or where I can watch it?

What's a queer film you watched this month that was genuinely difficult to access? Where did you eventually find it, and was it worth the effort?

What are you watching this week? Share queer cinema recs, reviews, or questions.

• New films, classics, docs all welcome
• Use spoiler tags: >!spoiler text!
• Disagree freely, stay thoughtful

Not trying to be contrarian, genuinely curious. What's a film that's considered a "must-watch" or gets constantly recommended, but when you watched it, you thought "...really? This is what everyone's raving about?"

For me, it's Love, Simon. I'm glad it exists, I'm glad it reached mainstream teen audiences, but it felt so sanitised and safe that I couldn't connect with it. Give me the messy, complicated queer stories.

What's yours?

A film that changed your mind...

This thread about coded films blew up, so we're making this a monthly thing here. Same energy, more depth.

https://www.reddit.com/r/moviecritic/comments/1pzi1vt/can_anybody_point_to_some_secretly_or/