Category: Drama

‘The Harvesters’ explores sexuality, masculinity, and religion in a conservative farming community

The Harvesters follows Janno (Brent Vermeulen), a South African teen from a very particular type of family. His parents are deeply invested in religion, white Afrikaner solidarity and their farm. A sensitive boy, Janno’s interests lie elsewhere.

When his parents decide to bring a troubled, but charismatic kid named Pieter (Alex van Dyk) into the household, a struggle for dominance soon ensues.

As Pieter slyly draws various family members under his spell, Janno begins to sense that he’s being replaced as the favored son. The boys soon start a dangerous fight for power, heritage and parental love that will change both of their lives forever.

A stirring, subtly homoerotic take on the myth of Cain and Abel, The Harvesters explores repressed sexuality, religion and masculinity in the deep South African countryside. The feature-length debut of Greek-African filmmaker Etienne Kallosis, the film offers up tense and pitiless drama about the intersection of familial and cultural dynamics.

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

John Benjamin Hickey stars in beloved filmmaker Eytan Fox’s cross-cultural romance ‘Sublet’

Tony Award-winning theatre veteran John Benjamin Hickey stars in Sublet as Michael, a travel columnist for The New York Times who reluctantly goes on a trip to Tel Aviv to write an article after suffering a tragedy.

Leaving behind some unresolved relationship troubles with his husband, Michael just wants to do his research and fly back home as soon as possible. But when he sublets an apartment from Tomer, an incredibly attractive young film student played by newcomer Niv Nissim, he suddenly finds himself drawn into the life of the city.

The intense bond he forms with this casually seductive younger man ends up transforming both their lives in unexpected ways.

The newest feature from acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox, the writer-director behind Walk on Water and Yossi and Jagger, Sublet is sexy, charming, thought-provoking and ultimately life-affirming.

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

Get seduced by the erotic, mystical queer allegory and stoner comedy ‘A Dim Valley’

Young actors Whitmer Thomas and Zach Weintraub star in A Dim Valley as ecology grad students Albert and Ian.

The pair are spending the summer collecting samples with their curmudgeonly advisor played by ‘Midnight Mass’ and ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ star Robert Longstreet. At his woodsy cabin along the Appalachian Trail, close quarters foster comical friction and unexpected bonds between the two young men.

When three mysterious, enigmatic female backpackers (played by Rachel McKeon, Feathers Wise and Rosalie Lowe) crash into their lives, they push the men to open up to one another… and their true feelings and desires soon begin to deepen.

A clever new indie gem from writer-director Brandon Colvin, A Dim Valley is partly a queer allegory, partly a hilarious stoner comedy and partly a transcendental meditation on mysticism and love.

Watch the trailer for A Dim Valley below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Director Marco Berger explores toxic masculinity and homoerotic tension in ‘Horseplay’

During a scorching Argentine holiday, a group of male friends get together at a luxury villa. They drink, party hard, make videos together… and begin to test one another’s boundaries. A rare mix of homophobia and horseplay come together to create a wildly homoerotic atmosphere.

A twisted triangle of friends – a repressed gay man, a secret bisexual boy and a complete homophobe – will push the simmering tensions to their breaking point.

Prolific writer-director Marco Berger, the award-winning filmmaker behind Taekwondo, Hawaii, Young Hunter and The Blonde One, expertly amplifies the homoerotic undercurrents of male friendships – exploring his characters’ toned physiques as much as their inner thoughts.

While the surface of Horseplay has a wealth of eye-candy, the film also offers an intelligent and challenging critique of masculinity in its most toxic and dangerous form.

Watch the very NSFW trailer for Horseplay below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Two lovers face a difficult decision in the romantic drama ‘A Place to Be’

Writer-director Tadeo Garcia followed up his 2004 debut feature On the Downlow with A Place to Be, a powerful love story set against the backdrop of the U.S. immigration system.

Both Abel (Nelson A. Rodriguez), who works in Chicago in social services, and Diego (Andrew L. Saenz), an auto mechanic, have waited a long time to fall in love with the right person.

After several chance meetings, the two hook up and quickly fall for one another. But Diego has been hiding a secret: he’s an undocumented immigrant and his repeated attempts to attain citizenship have led nowhere.

When word reaches him that his mother is dying, Diego must decide whether or not to risk a trip back to Mexico, knowing he will jeopardize his chances of returning to America… and building a future with Abel. Can their love survive this dangerous decision?

Emotional and poignant, A Place to Be tells a moving story about the power of love during uncertain times.

Check out the poster for A Place to Be below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: After

An 18-minute tearjerker from writer-director Christian Walsh, After follows a couple whose once perfect relationship is turned upside-down as they deal with the loss of their daughter in opposite and conflicting ways.

The film begins in 1998, using home videos that introduce us to loving partners Riley and Calvin (Adrian Anchondo and Dylan Wayne Lawrence). Their already happy life is made greater by the arrival of their adopted daughter.

When we jump forward in time, we realize that the pair have suffered a tragic loss – and that their different ways of grieving have caused a tension between them that never existed before.

Both men understand that they will have to find some way to move forward, but it’s not clear whether or not they’ll be able to do it together.

Profoundly emotional, After shows how the sadness of grief is a testament to how much you loved and an opportunity to appreciate the people in your life even more.

Watch a short teaser clip from After below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

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.