Category: Drama

Short Film Spotlight: The Carer

A touching 15-minute short film from writer-director Christine Parker, The Carer stars veteran British character actor Peter Eyre as Ari, a sophisticated and urbane gay man who moves into an elder care facility and encounters Beau, played by Barney Glover.

Beau, an exceptionally handsome a former thief, is in the process of straightening his life out and has now been put in charge of Ari’s day-to-day care. Their unlikely meeting changes both men in profound ways – forcing Ari, who recently lost his long-term partner, to examine the tenderness of his past while Beau looks toward the possibility of a brighter future.

Examining a uniquely intimate professional relationship, The Carer is equally heartwarming and heartbreaking.

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

Now Available: That’s Not Us

That’s Not Us is a summery relationship drama that feels entirely relatable, which makes the fact that the dialog was entirely improvised by the cast all the more impressive.

Featuring a terrific ensemble, the film follows three twenty-something couples – gay, lesbian and straight – who travel to a beach house to enjoy the last days of summer.

What was meant to be a fun, carefree retreat transforms into an intimate exploration of sex and commitment. Moment-to-moment, relationships are tested as tensions between the couples and friends begin to simmer.

From director William Sullivan, That’s Not Us is a romantic comedy that questions what it takes to sustain a healthy long-term partnership. While gender and sexuality may vary, the struggles to make love last do not.

Watch the trailer for That’s Not Us below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Mar

Mar follows Xavier and Eduardo (Lourenço Seruya and João Santos Silva), two lovers who decide to spend their summer vacation in a small town on the coast of Portugal. While planning their trip, they never expected to be be faced with a dark mystery that leads to seduction and betrayal.

The pair aim to visit a childhood friend named Cristovao (Diogo Tavares) – unaware that he’s harboring an explosive secret known only to his enigmatic mother (Sylvie Rocha). When that secret is later revealed, sexual tensions begin to rise and someone’s fate is unexpectedly sealed.

From writer-director William Vitoria, Mar is a tense, gorgeously shot 25-minute short inspired by old-school erotic thrillers.

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

Tainted Souls is a gritty and intense Italian crime drama

The complex lives of a group of seemingly different tenants in a cheap Roman apartment building come crashing together in Tainted Souls, an inventive and unsettling Italian crime drama.

Mauro (Maurizio Tesei) has manic ambitions that always seem to outpace his limited means. This causes great strife with his wife Simona (Giulia Bevilacqua). Looking to make something of himself, he gets involved in the business of local crime lord Carmine (Nuccio Siano), which may lead to his downfall.

Meanwhile, former bodybuilder Marcello (Vinicio Marchioni) is married to Chiara (Anna Foglietta), but having a secret affair with Walter (Vincenzo Salemme), a professor and author who also serves as the narrator of the story.

Between the walls of this rundown apartment complex just outside of Rome, all of these disparate lives converge into each other. Will anyone be left standing at the end of this intense character drama… or will a few wayward souls bring everyone down with them?

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

Short Film Spotlight: Lightning Bugs in a Jar

From co-directors Sara Wolkowitz and Robert Ian Simpson, the 19-minute short film Lightning Bugs in a Jar opens with a child’s car seat flying through the air – never a good sign. Rest assured, no babies are put in harm’s way during the film, but there’s certainly some lingering childhood trauma.

When a mother and son with a caustic history reunite to pack-up their old house, sparks fly as long-buried secrets are revealed… and it might fall upon the shoulders of the son’s boyfriend to help heal old wounds.

Thoughtfully written, packed with both humor and emotion and beautifully performed by lead actors Ethan Slater, Devin McDuffee and Betsy Aidem, Lightning Bugs in a Jar perfectly captures what it feels like to play referee for two people in a volatile relationship.

In other words, it will tear you apart like an old car seat thrown from a second-story window.

Watch a short trailer for Lightning Bugs in a Jar below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

New Series: Give Me Back the Night

Set during the middle of the pandemic in 2021, Give Me Back the Night is a smart, sexy, funny and fast paced new series from Columbia – exploring a new relationship which opens up some old wounds.

Leonardo (Juan Manuel Velez Casas), a creative young man who dabbles in sewing and illustration, is just trying to survive his day job – working in a supermarket surrounded by pandemic-related chaos. When he learns that his biological mother, thought to be dead, is very much alive and wants to reconnect with him, it completely upends his day-to-day life.

Meanwhile, Felix (Sergio Quevedo Barreto) is a photographer with rough and tumble good looks who has his eyes firmly planted on the stars. He has recently run away from a disapproving home. When he meets Leonardo on the street and the two young men form an unlikely connection, they’re budding relationship finally allows them to explore their suppressed desires and freedoms.

Together, they begin to face the issues that keep them up at night. They soon learn that they must reckon with their pasts and repair their fractured family ties in order to move forward and grow together.

Watch the trailer for Give Me Back the Night below. The full six-episode first season is streaming now on Dekkoo!