Category: Adolescence

Director Bertrand Mandico offers up a visually stunning queer allegory with ‘The Wild Boys’

The Wild Boys, the debut feature from prolific French short film director Bertrand Mandico, is ready to blow your mind.

Set on a small island at the beginning of the 20th century, the film tells the tale of five adolescent boys (all played by female-identifying actresses) who come from wealthy families, but find themselves increasingly drawn to the occult.

Looking to explore lives of crime and transgression, the group collectively commits a brutal crime – aided by ‘Trevor,’ a strange deity of chaos they can’t seem to control.

The boys are soon punished, forced to board a boat with a lecherous sea captain who is hell-bent on taming their ferocious appetites. They arrive on a lush island where dangers and pleasures abound… and the boys start to transform in both mind and body.

Gorgeously shot on 16mm and brimming with homoeroticism, genderfluidity and sly, subversive humor, The Wild Boys will take you on a heady, hedonistic journey you won’t soon forget. It’s a colorful, unique and strangely funny underground queer masterpiece.

Watch the trailer for The Wild Boys below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Before You Go

The 14-minute short Before You Go follows Daniel (Nícola Vilander) and his best friend Franco (Joaquín Batarce), who are on a camping trip together at a remote lake in Patagonia.

When their backpack and tent fall down a cliff, they’re forced to seek shelter during a storm. Finding an unoccupied cabin, they decide to break a window and trespass inside.

Alone together in the house, they begin to celebrate their last days together before going their separate ways for college. Daniel is yet to come clean about his feelings for Franco, but as their time together comes to a close and their trip takes more than a few harrowing turns, the true nature of their feelings will be brought to the fore.

Beautifully crafted by co-directors Vicente del Río Laya and Hans von Marées Pededeand and packed with subtle emotion and sexual tension, Before You Go is a bittersweet coming-of-age short about the early romantic infatuations that linger.

Watch a short teaser for Before You Go below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

An alluring stranger comes between three witchy siblings in the supernatural thriller ‘Cheat’

Originally produced by the Filipino network Hue TV, the new ‘Boys’ Love’ film Cheat is a campy psychological thriller with supernatural undercurrents.

A tale of stolen innocence, the film follows Vee (Daryll Rodriguez), an alluring and mysterious young man who comes from an unusually sheltered upbringing. When he befriends Dong, Jennifer and Jay (Migo de Vera, Allora Alcantara and Victor Relosa), a family of three siblings, along with their mother (Tuesday Vargas), who dabbles in witchcraft, his strange charms set off a series of events that will inflict devastating consequences.

As all three siblings begin to fall in love with the unusual stranger, jealously, lust and betrayal rear their ugly heads and Vee’s mere presence in the family’s life threatens to tear them apart.

With edgy supernatural soap opera vibes in the vein of ‘Supernatural’ or ‘Charmed,’ Cheat delves into the maelstrom of intimate relationships within a tightly knit family. It’s also got style and sex appeal to spare.

Watch the trailer for Cheat below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Oddity in the Blue Crayfish

The Oddity in the Blue Crayfish follows Edo (Alessandro Cantalini), an eighteen-year-old who is suffering from premature hair loss – and he’s not happy about it.

To make matters worse, his boyfriend, Federico, is about to return home to Italy after spending a year abroad in school.

Edo becomes determined to find a cure for his sudden balding before the man he loves arrives. With some perhaps misguided encouragement from his mother, Alessandra, and his best friend, Luigi, he decides to start using some experimental drops to help with his problem.

Unfortunately, though his hair grows back, the drops prove to have some horrific side effects. On top of that, once Federico arrives home, it becomes apparent that he’s been experiencing some changes of his own.

From Simone Marino, an Italian short filmmaker who got his start working under director Paolo Sorrentino on the acclaimed HBO series ‘The New Pope,’ The Oddity in the Blue Crayfish is a 16-minute parable about how transformation is not only possible, but sometimes inevitable.

Watch a short trailer for The Oddity in the Blue Crayfish below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Family Affair

From writer-producer Ernest Anemone and director Julio Dowansingh, Family Affair is a heartwarming 15-minute queer comedy short about the secrets we keep, the friendships we make and, as the title would suggest, the families we’re born into.

Bear D’Angelo stars as Tanner, a high school senior who seems to have everything going for him. He’s smart, he’s athletic and he’s popular… but there’s something – or rather someone – taking up his time lately. And Tanner feels that, at all costs, he must keep it a secret from his mother.

We don’t want to give away any more of the plot because there are some delightful surprises in store for viewers who aren’t sure where the story is going.

Created by a cast and crew mostly consisting of queer and BIPOC creatives, Family Affair tells an uplifting story about one mother-son relationship while aiming to normalize and destigmatize queer identities across the board.

Watch a short teaser trailer for Family Affair below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Burn Bridge

If you’ve ever harbored secret romantic feelings for a straight best friend, you’ll find a lot to relate to in Burn Bridge, a 15-minute slice-of-life drama from British writer-director Rhys Marc Jones.

Charlie Rice stars as Harry, a typically angst-filled teen whose hormonal frustrations have been causing him to act out in increasingly mischievous ways. That’s also partly due to the influence of Jamie, his roguish and perpetually horny best buddy played by Macaulay Cooper.

The two smoke pot and drink together, pull pranks and joke around in that mildly aggressive, boys-will-be-boys kind of manner. But all the while, Jamie remains aloof to Charlie’s growing desires.

Exploring his sexuality alone in the safe confines of his bedroom only does so much to alleviate Charlie’s deep longing. When Jamie starts hooking up with a local girl named Lucy, who has a friend she wants to set up with Charlie, jealousy rears its ugly head and those barely-concealed feelings start inching ever closer toward the light.

Filmed in a matter-of-face style, Burn Bridge offers up an unflinching examination of those lusty teen infatuations that can be hard to shake.

Watch a clip from Burn Bridge below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Two college buddies grow closer over four consecutive Valentine’s Days in this tender drama

Unfolding over the course of four years – or, more specifically, four consecutive Valentine’s Days – 4 Days is an achingly romantic drama from Filipino auteur Adolfo Alix Jr., which takes an intimate look at the complicated relationship between two college buddies.

Sebastian Castro stars as Derek, a seemingly typical straight dude who has had a string of girlfriends – none of whom he has hung onto for very long. All the while, after each break-up, his best friend Mark, played by Mikoy Morales, has been waiting on the sidelines – ready to clean Derek’s wounds while harboring secret romantic feelings of his own.

Through intrusive, carefully selected long takes, we’re invited to observe the pair year after year and witness as the tension between them escalates.

Morales and Castro give exceptional, often heartbreaking performances in this thoughtful and patient romance – wherein the awkward silences and furtive glances speak volumes.

Watch the trailer for 4 Days below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.