Category: Drama

‘Lilies Not for Me’ is a stylish queer period piece from the producers of ‘Call Me by Your Name’

Fionn O’Shea stars in Lilies Not for Me as Owen James, a young gay novelist in 1920s England, as he recalls the love affair he shared with a handsome doctor, who was convinced that their mutual ‘condition’ could be cured.

Writer-director Will Seefried’s lushly romantic debut feature shines an unflinching light on a dark and mostly unknown period of gay history.

Evoking a handsome Merchant Ivory-esque production with a dash of gothic flair and featuring exceptional supporting performances from Erin Kellyman, Robert Aramayo and Louis Hoffmann, Lilies Not for Me is an intricately constructed, lyrical and heartbreaking film about two young men wrestling with their sexuality.

The film, produced by the team behind Call Me by Your Name, offers a stark and effective reminder that, despite the many attempts throughout history to change queer people at their very core, passion and love have always persevered.

Watch the trailer for Lilies Not for Me below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Netuser

Award-winning stage and screen veteran Denis O’Hare stars in the tense 15-minute thriller Netuser as Peter Sardovski, a writer who has become obsessed with political assassinations.

Peter can’t seem to shake this recurring nightmare that a current LGBTQ+ political candidate is at risk of being targeted. Despite warnings to the contrary, Peter decides to post a video comparing his dream to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.

The video, which ignites a media firestorm, faces fierce and brutal backlash almost immediately. With his husband and two-year-old son in protective hiding, Peter must confess the secret that has led to him being canceled – a revelation that quickly threatens his marriage and his future.

Watch a short trailer for Netuser below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

A man tries to win back the love of his parallel life in the romantic comedy-drama ‘Second Chance’

A romantic blend of fantasy and drama, the new Dekkoo Exclusive Second Chance follows Alan and Daniel (Luigi Calduch and Caio Fliper), an attractive young couple celebrating their five-year wedding anniversary.

When a romantic dinner doesn’t go according to plan, a vicious lover’s spat ensues. Daniel, in a moment of anger, suggests that maybe the pair should never have married in the first place.

During the night, fate intervenes to teach him a lesson. Daniel wakes up in the morning to find himself in an alternate universe where he and Alan’s relationship ended half a decade ago.

Suddenly alone and confused, Daniel begins to realize how much he took for granted and sets out on a mission to win back the love of his parallel life.

Taking inspiration from It’s a Wonderful Life, this new film from Mauro Carvalho, the prolific Brazilian director behind The Senator, Cousins and About Us, tells a charming and sexy story about two men who get a second chance at first love.

Watch the trailer for Second Chance below. The film is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: People (Who Need People)

From screenwriter Eric Grant and director Omid Iranikhah, the short film People (Who Need People) follows former partners Alex and Raj (Patrick Sprague and Adron Duell), who are in the middle of a bitter divorce.

Raj has packed up most of their belongings and has one foot out the door, but Alex is nowhere near ready to move on. When Alex attempts to steal back a copy of Barbra Streisand’s album People, which was given to him as an anniversary present, it sets a major conflict into motion.

As the couple begin to argue, they discover that there are unresolved issues at the heart of their relationship… and not all of them revolve around Barbra.

Featuring game performances from the two lead actors, People (Who Need People) is a clever and bitingly funny 8-minute break-up comedy.

Check out the poster for People (Who Need People) below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Director Ray Yeung’s critically acclaimed ‘Twilight’s Kiss’ is now available on Dekkoo

From Ray Yeung, the accomplished filmmaker behind Front Cover, Cut Sleeve Boys and All Shall Be Well, Twilight’s Kiss tells a gut-wrenching tale of forbidden love between two married men in their golden years.

The film follows Pak (Tai Bo), a Hong Kong cab driver on the verge of hanging up his keys, and Hoi (Ben Yuen), a divorced retiree. The pair find themselves drawn into a secret affair, stealing moments of intimacy in the steam-shrouded sanctuary of the local gay bathhouse.

In a society where same-sex love is still very much taboo, the two men have to keep their trysts on the down-low. But when genuine feelings start to bubble up, their carefully compartmentalized lives threaten to boil over. As the Pak and Hoi navigate an increasingly intimate relationship, they begin to wonder whether they’ve aged out of the possibility of happily-ever-after.

Yeung, who crafted the screenplay from real-life stories, shines a light on the isolation and heartache faced by those who dare to love outside the lines, delivering a powerful and unforgettable portrait of a love that refuses to be denied.

Profoundly moving, Twilight’s Kiss is the kind of film that stays with you long after the end credits roll.

Watch the trailer for Twilight’s Kiss below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A musician’s spark is ignited by a young trans man in the Australian drama ‘Unsound’

When guitarist Noah (Reece Noi) finds himself growing disillusioned, he quits his band and returns to his mother’s home in Sydney, Australia.

Clashing with his mother over old wounds, Noah seeks solace elsewhere and soon finds himself swept up in the vibrant, passionate life and of a young trans-man named Finn (Yiana Pandelis), who runs a local center and nightclub for his deaf community.

Together, the pair traverse new ground, sharing their languages – Noah’s music and Finn’s sign language – with one another. They move carefully, as this is Finn’s first relationship while he is on the precipice of diving into his trans journey.

Noah offers to help aid the club any way he can, but as the two become closer, and with no shared language to fall back on, they risk hurting each other as they learn to be true to themselves.

From screenwriter Ally Burnham and director Ian Watson, Unsound is a thoughtful and romantic queer drama that takes great pride in its conversational awareness of both the LGBTQIA+ and deaf or hard of hearing communities.

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

The gay boxing drama ‘Punch’ tells a hard-hitting story about love, loyalty and liberation

Up-and-coming New Zealand actor Jordan Oosterhof stars in the gay sports drama Punch as Jim, a seventeen-year-old boxer from a small town. Something of a golden boy, Jim is preparing for a fight that will elevate him to an early professional status.

All bets are on his climb to success. But his father, Stan, a demanding coach and a notorious alcoholic played by Tim Roth, is treated like a joke. He has given everything to see his son gain professional status and escape the brutality of his small world.

As Jim begins to rethink why he is fighting in the first place, his life tangles with Whetu, a razor-tongued, gay Maori boy played by Conan Hayes, who spends his days in an old shack down by the beach.

Along with his dog, Whetu cobbles together a fragile glamour and dreams of leaving town to become a musician. As Jim stumbles towards discovering what it really means to be a gay man, he is forced to see that strength has little to do with heroism.

Gorgeously crafted, powerfully acted and deeply romantic, Punch tells a hard-hitting story about love, loyalty and liberation.

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