Category: Cross-Cultural Romance

A troubled teen finds love in the emotional Canadian indie ‘Beneath the Skin’

Writer and co-director Aaron Ellis also stars in the sensitive gay indie Beneath the Skin as Joshua, a young man who is forced to move to Canada to live with his estranged father after his living situation falls apart.

Once there, Joshua meets Jay (Justin Liles), a local tattoo artist who fled the violent actions of his parents back home in Alabama.

Both young men, abandoned and lonely in their own way, find themselves falling for one another… until a pair of high school brats intrude on the boys’ growing relationship.

Originally released in 2015, this quiet, sensual romance is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Though it’s not a very well-known film, it won numerous awards at film festivals when it originally screened. It’s worth checking out if only for the two leads, who share a magical chemistry in the film – and will leave you both swooning and reaching for the tissues.

Watch the trailer for Beneath the Skin below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Two Hawaiian schoolboys fall in love in the heartwarming new romance ‘My Partner’

Two high school boys from seemingly different worlds fall in love in My Partner, a charming and colorful new gay romance from Hawaii.

Directed by Kanaka Maoli filmmaker Keli’i Grace and based on an original story by Lance D. Collins, the film explores the relationship between Edmar (played by Jayron Munoz), a high-achieving Filipino student, and Pili (played by Kaipo Dudoit), a Native Hawaiian student-athlete.

As they navigate budding young love and self-growth in Hawaii, their journey reflects the complexities of the area’s evolving cultural landscape.

Sexy, heartwarming and deeply romantic, My Partner breaks some new ground, offering up a unique take on love and identity and marking the first time that the wildly popular ‘Boys Love’ subgenre has been portrayed through a modern Hawaiian story.

Check out the poster for My Partner below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Henry Golding and Patrick Sawyers star in the swoon-worthy Vietnam-set romance ‘Monsoon’

From acclaimed writer-director Hong Khaou (Spring, Lilting), the romantic drama Monsoon stars Crazy Rich Asians heartthrob Henry Golding as Kit, a young man who returns to Ho Chi Minh City for the first time since he was six years old, when his family fled in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.

As Kit seeks a meaningful place to scatter his parents’ ashes, he finds himself struggling to make sense of himself in a city he’s no longer familiar with.

His journey brings him an illuminating friendship with Linh, a vibrant young local student played by Molly Harris, and an unexpected romance with Lewis, an American ex-pat played by Parker Sawyers, whose father fought in the war.

Through these relationships, Kit rekindles an emotional, life-altering connection with his estranged family and homeland.

A tender and gorgeously-crafted must see, Monsoon offers up a rich and poignant romantic queer travelogue, reflecting on the struggle for identity in a place where the past weighs heavily on the present.

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

Lead actors Nick Ferrucci and Benjamin Farmer return for the final entry in ‘The Falls Trilogy’

Brace yourself for the emotional final entry of director Jon Garcia’s The Falls Trilogy. The original film, about two Mormon missionaries who fall in love, was released in 2012 to such great acclaim that it spawned two unexpected, but wholly welcome sequels.

In The Falls: Covenant of Grace, the third installment, lead actors Nick Ferrucci and Benjamin Farmer reprise their roles as R.J. and Chris, two men who seem destined to be together despite overwhelming obstacles.

Now finally together, the pair are struggling to make their relationship work amid conflicts with their families and their faith. Determined to put the past behind them, the two men set in motion a quest for unconditional love that ultimately leads them to the very top of the Latter Day Saints leadership.

Handling controversial topics with great sensitivity, this final trilogy entry has resonated with LGBTQ+ audiences around the world.

Don’t miss this exquisitely moving third chapter – and make sure to check out The Falls and the first sequel The Falls: Testament of Love, both of which are also streaming right now on Dekkoo.

Mormon lovers R.J. and Chris reunite in the bittersweet second entry of ‘The Falls Trilogy’

The second entry in the romantic trilogy from writer-director Jon Garcia, The Falls: Testament of Love reunites lead actors Benjamin Farmer and Nick Ferrucci as former Mormon missionaries and doomed lovers R.J. and Chris.

Picking up five years after the events of The Falls, we learn that the young men’s lives have taken radically different paths. Just as they are beginning to put the past behind them and establish their adult lives, the death of a mutual friend brings them unexpectedly back together.

As old feelings of affection and regret are rekindled, R.J. and Chris must once again confront their seemingly impossible love. Will their reunion prove that the two are fated to be together… or will reality come crashing down on them once again?

Farmer and Ferrucci deliver remarkably natural performances once again in this bittersweet romantic drama that has a lot to say about religion, familial obligations, sexual repression and first love.

Watch the trailer for The Falls: Testament of Love below. The film, along with the original in the trilogy, are now streaming on Dekkoo. The third entry, The Falls: Covenant of Grace, will be available later this month.

Short Film Spotlight: Sacrament

Set in the 1950s, Sacrament stars Abel Benitez and Rin Iverson as Belford and Winston, two young men on a camping trip outside their rural, religious hometown.

As the story begins to unfold it becomes abundantly clear that two men are attracted to one another, something which is forbidden by their conservative community.

What soon follows is a dark night of the soul for Belford, as he enters into a terrifying, anxiety-induced nightmare and tries to reconcile his religious faith with what his heart truly desires.

Gorgeously shot in black and white, this provocative 9-minute short from writer-director Jack Hessler uses horror imagery and religious allegory to convey complicated feelings about sacrifice, religious intolerance and repressed desires.

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

‘Rosodium’ director Théodore Tomasz returns with the road trip romance ‘One Last Night of You’

Expanding on themes he explored in his debut feature Rosodium, French director Théodore Tomasz wastes no time establishing the high-concept premise that drives the action of his newest film One Last Night of You.

In a state of deep despair following a tragic loss, Evan (Lou-Andréas Robert) has been contemplating suicide. During a road trip to a particular cliff-side where he wishes to spend his final moments, his car breaks down. That’s when he meets Léo (Léo Simonot), a mysterious boy who offers to drive him to his destination.

Léo, who seems largely unfazed by Evan’s self-destructive plan, has a devil-may-care attitude that could indicate either danger or salvation. Their opposing attitudes cause a certain amount of friction that results in some unexpected romantic tension.

As the boys continue their journey, meeting interesting characters along the way, they’re forced to reckon with the traumas of the past, the conflicts of the present and the potential of their future – together or apart.

With his worldview suddenly reframed, Evan finds that he may have something – or someone – worth living for after all.

Tackling heavy themes with humor and heart, thanks in large part to the soulful performances of lead actors Lou-Andréas Robert and Léo Simonot, One Last Night of You is an achingly tender portrait of two young men in crisis who find the will to keep going with a little help from one another.

Watch the trailer for One Last Night of You below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo. You can also watch director Théodore Tomasz’s first feature, Rosodium, available now.

A respected soldier falls for a young recruit in the searing gay military drama ‘Eismayer’

Sergeant Major Eismayer (Gerhard Liebmann) is known and feared as the toughest training officer in the Austrian Armed Forces. Ruthless with recruits, he is seemingly unwavering in his ideas about discipline, order and presenting an image of macho toughness.

When he starts to fall in love with Falak (Luka Dimic), a new recruit who unashamedly embraces his homosexuality, Eismayer’s closeted existence is shaken to the core.

To a man like Eismayer, loving another man cannot be reconciled with the understanding of what a model soldier should be. Will he choose to protect his badass tough guy image over all else… or can he follow his heart and his true desire?

Inspired by an incredible true story, director David Wagner’s Eismayer is a hard-hitting queer love story set against a modern military backdrop.

A powerful film about coming out, gay love, toxic masculinity, traditional gender roles, fear and friendship, Eismayer aims to tear down your preconceptions and assumptions about masculinity and strength before rebuilding them in a whole new way.

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

Former lovers reconnect after a long time apart in the thought-provoking drama ‘The Writer’

The second film in a planned trilogy from prolific Lithuanian writer-director Romas Zabarauskas, The Writer follows two former lovers who reconnect later in life.

Lithuanian-American Kostas and Russian-Lithuanian Dima reconnect in New York decades after serving together in the Soviet Army. They fell in love back in the 1980s – and Dima soon joined Kostas in moving from Russia to Lithuania. But as Lithuania gained independence in the 1990s, Kostas left to study in New York, leaving Dima behind.

Kostas, now an established author, has published a book based on their romance and separation. Upon reading it, Dima pays a visit, eager to correct a few key facts.

A tender and bittersweet romantic drama, featuring impressive lead performances from veteran New York theatre actors Jamie Day and Bruce Ross, The Writer offers up a testament to the power of self-expression and the resilience of first love.

Watch the trailer for The Writer below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo. And though it isn’t connected narratively, you can check out The Lawyer, the first film of the director’s new trilogy, which is also available now.