Category: Comedy

Short Film Spotlight: With Thelma

A gay couple gets a crash course in parenting in the charming 14-minute short With Thelma.

When a volcano erupts in Iceland, it strands Vincent’s brother and sister-in-law overseas. Until planes start flying again, someone will need to take care of Thelma, their 2-year-old daughter – who has been staying with a no-longer-available family friend in Paris.

The task falls to Vincent and his partner Jean, who enjoy a pretty typical urban gay lifestyle and worry about their ability to manage a toddler. But when Thelma arrives, they rise to the occasion – learning all about the responsibilities of fatherhood through trial and error.

By the time Thelma’s parents are ready to return, the prospect of breaking up their makeshift family proves far more emotional than either of them expected.

Featuring incredibly funny performances from lead actors Jean La Peltier and Vincent Lecuyer – not to mention Thelma Balboni as the scene-stealing titular 2-year-old – With Thelma is a lovingly-crafted ode to all the joys and pressures of parenthood.

Watch the trailer for With Thelma below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Mikey’s Army

When you are facing a crisis, who goes to battle for you?

In a time when queer kids face unprecedented attacks and hostility from lawmakers, educators and even their own families, writer Eric Ulloa and director Andrew Keenan-Bolger set out to make a short film that puts the beauty – and even magic – of queerness at center stage.

Mikey’s Army stars Markie Aquirre as Mikey Alvarez, a 16-year-old who finds himself at a pivotal moment. He must decide whether or not to be open and honest about his sexuality.

Not quite ready to come out on his own, Mikey unwittingly conjures a trio of guides who appear in an explosion of glitter and glitz. Backed up by a drag queen, an international pop star and an action film heartthrob, he finally finds the courage and confidence he needs to be honest about his feelings.

Featuring a cast of Broadway-regulars like Claybourne Elder and Krystina Alabado – alongside ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ alum Shuga Cain – Mikey’s Army is a thoughtful and touching film that aims to remind us that our differences can be superpowers – and that we’re never alone on the battlefield.

Watch a short teaser trailer for Mikey’s Army below. The 10-minute film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Outside the Aquarium

Artist Alex Mello wrote, directed and stars in Outside the Aquarium, a romantic, funny and thoughtful 25-minute short about the experiences of a Black gay artist living in Germany.

Jonas (Mello) is a painter who is getting ready for a major new exhibition. At the start of the film, we meet him in a state of romantic bliss. He’s deeply in love with Lukas (Julius Dombrink), his partner. During breakfast, Lukas tells Jonas about a strange recurring nightmare that stems from his anxiety over being fetishized by the white gay community over his racial features.

Jonas can relate – maybe more than Lukas even knows. The film unexpectedly flashes back to a time before the pair met, when Jonas was still searching for love in addition to professional success. Following him through the course of one evening, we get to feel what it’s like to walk in his shoes – meeting his self-centered, casually-racist agent and joining him for an exceedingly uncomfortable hook-up with a demented bottom who views interracial sex like the ultimate taboo.

We then get to witness the moment when Jonas and Lukas first met, which gives the beginning of the film and their loving relationship a whole new – and much deeper – perspective.

Directed with heart and inventive visual flair, Outside the Aquarium marks Mello as a unique and playful artist worth keeping an eye on.

Watch the trailer for Outside the Aquarium below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Three teen outcasts band together in the Italian coming-of-age drama ‘One Kiss’

Young actors Rimau Ritzberger Grillo, Valentina Romani and Leonardo Pazzagli star in One Kiss as Lorenzo, Blu and Antonio, high school sophomores living in a small city in the North of Italy.

All three teens are outcasts, albeit for different reasons. Antonio is a jock, but gets picked on for his speech impediment. Blu has an unfair reputation in town for being promiscuous due to one prior indiscretion. Lorenzo is not afraid to be open about his sexuality, despite rampant homophobia.

Though they come from different backgrounds, the three share a strong bond and soon band together to fight against their oppressors. However, when Lorenzo starts making evident his attraction to Antonio, petty jealousies threaten to tear the trio apart.

Directed by Ivan Cotroneo, the prolific writer behind Luca Guadagnino’s 2009 international hit I Am Love, One Kiss plays around with the expectations of your typical teen coming-of-age movie. This is a film about friendship and emerging sexuality that isn’t afraid to go deep and show both the brightest and darkest moments of adolescence.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Jean Fell in Love

A pulse-pounding and ultimately heart-warming 20-minute short from French writer-director Romain Roellet, Jean Fell in Love follows events that take place during the final weeks of a heated rugby tournament.

Jean (Simon Rerolle), the star player of his team, is on the cusp of earning a much-coveted trophy. When he meets Ayoub (Tristan Zanchi), a newcomer from an opposing team, the spark between them is immediately apparent.

The pair make plans to get together for a walk through the park the following day. When Ayoub kisses Jean for the first time, however, they’re inconveniently spotted by Greg (Pierre Louis Laugérias), a less-then-supportive teammate whose over-the-top homophobia betrays a not-so thinly veiled jealousy.

News soon travels to the locker room, where Jean is forced out of the closet before he’s ready. Finally faced with the truth, he decides that it’s time to start winning on his own terms.

With terrific performances, a charming romance at its core and lots of hot athletic flesh on display, Jean Fell in Love is ready to make you swoon and break a sweat.

Watch a short trailer for Jean Fell in Love below. The film is now available to watch on Dekkoo.

‘A Little Lust’ tackles bullying, homophobia and hormonal urges with a vibrant and funny Italian sensibility

There’s nothing wrong with a little lust as long as you keep it in check.

For sixteen-year-old Rocco (Andrea Amato), that’s getting harder to do. His two hormonally-charged aims in life are to finally get laid and to go see his favorite pop star in concert with his best friends – sassy and tomboyish Maria (Carolina Pavone) and nerdy and quiet Mauri (Francesco De Miranda).

When a bullying incident at school forces Rocco to come out of the closet to his divorced, middle-class Italian parents, their liberal leanings are severely tested. Luckily, his two friends stand by him and quickly latch on to his impulsive plan to run away from home… in his parents’ stolen car, no less.

The three buds are planning to go see their favorite singer in concert. They don’t realize, though, that they’re being followed hot on the heels by Rocco’s neurotic mother and his eccentric grandma – to hilarious effect.

A vibrant and funny Italian family comedy from director and co-star Veronica Pivetti, A Little Lust is both immersive and heartwarming – plus there’s a sweet, romantic twist you won’t want to miss.

Watch the trailer for A Little Lust below. The film is now available to stream on Dekkoo.

Dekkoo in Depth: Ross sits down with ‘Danny Will Die Alone’ creator and star Jack Tracy

In the video below, Ross sits down for an in-depth interview with Jack Tracy, creator and star of the hilarious and refreshingly direct new Dekkoo-original comedy series Danny Will Die Alone.

Born out of Tracy’s own post-pandemic dating life, the proudly jaw-dropping series follows one single man through the hell-scape of gay courtship in New York City – where he screws his way through the apps in an increasingly desperate search for his one true love.

Recently single after a devastating breakup – and freshly entering a mid-life crisis – Danny finds the dating scene markedly different from the last time he was on the market. Emotional unavailability, fear of commitment and hyper-sexuality abound, all while Danny remains blissfully unaware of his own multitude of flaws.

In Season One, Danny’s attempts at finding romance begin with a failed attempt at converting a hung hookup to a possible partner and end with hiring a professional matchmaker when the apps stop doing their job. Along the way he meets hipsters, conservatives, spiritual beings, sex gurus, sexual novices and even enters his ‘top era’ due to an overabundance of seemingly unwanted bottoms.

Rude, crude and unabashedly judgmental, Danny Will Die Alone serves the relatability missing from modern dating while adding a healthy dose of ‘did he really just say that?’ comedy. In addition to the humor, the series takes a critical look at modern dating, dating app etiquette and shifting relationship styles.

You can watch Ross’s interview with Jack Tracy below. All episodes of Danny Will Die Alone are now streaming on Dekkoo!

The line between friends and lovers gets blurred in the sexy new gay comedy ‘Shoulder Dance’

Shoulder Dance stars Matt Dallas and Rick Cosnett as Ira and Roger, two former best friends – one gay, the other straight – who have not actually seen each other in twenty-four years.

When Roger arrives unexpectedly for the weekend with his girlfriend Lilly (Maggie Geha) in tow, long suppressed desires dangerously resurface… and a wild weekend of seductive games, unraveling revelations and all-out indulgence ensues.

But as the boundaries of friendship, love and sex collide, the strength of Ira’s long-term relationship with Josh (Taylor Frey) starts getting tested like never before.

Written and directed by Jay Arnold, who previously helmed the 2011 comedy What Happens Next and produced The Big Gay Musical, Shoulder Dance won the Best LGBTQ Film and Best Supporting Actress awards and was nominated for Best Picture at 2023 Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival.

Watch the trailer for Shoulder Dance below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.