Category: International Film

Acclaimed director Rodrigo Bellott returns with the phantasmagorical horror film ‘Blood-Red Ox’

Two lovers find themselves descending into a mysterious form of madness in the eerie new psychological thriller Blood-Red Ox.

Boyfriends Amir and Amat (played by Mazin Akar and Kaolin Bass) are invited on a trip into the South American rain forest, but their initially pleasant visit to Bolivia quickly takes a bizarre turn.

Amat starts having strange visions and loses his mind over the ghostly presence of a giant red ox. Amir finds that he must save his boyfriend from this dangerous paranoia, but he quickly realizes that he can’t trust anything or anyone around them – as he might be losing his mind too.

From Rodrigo Bellott, the writer-director behind the critically-acclaimed 2020 drama Tu Me Manques, Blood-Red Ox is a visionary, phantasmagorical gay horror film that aims to make your head spin.

Watch the trailer for Blood-Red Ox below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: I Should Feed My Cat

A contemplative and sexually-frank short film from director Abram Cerda, I Should Feed My Cat opens on a rainy day in Belgium and follows Stefan, a Chilean man living in Brussels who is searching for a connection, but carries an intense fear of intimacy that may end up leading him astray.

Arriving at the apartment of an older man he met on Grindr, he’s dismayed to find hard drug paraphernalia. Later, when he encounters an old friend from back home, we find a glimmer of hope – but the walls that Stefan has built up around himself may be too strong to break through.

Featuring a quietly heartbreaking performance from lead actor Andres Cifuentes, I Should Feed My Cat perfectly captures the menancholy and isolation of being alone in a large foreign city.

Watch a mysterious short clip/trailer for the film below. I Should Feed My Cat is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Two young men share a fleeting connection in the gay romance ‘Boy Meets Boy’

Harry (Matthew J. Morrison) has been partying for two days when he meets Johannes (Alexis Koutsoulis) on the dance floor of a club in Berlin.

With only fifteen hours left until Harry’s flight back to London, Johannes offers to help him print his boarding pass. This mundane task leads to a day together, wandering the city.

The contrasts in their lives and values force them to confront their own truths and be completely honest – leading to a strong, romantic connection that is under an unusual time crunch.

Winner of the Grand Prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, director Dani Sanchez-Lopez’s Boy Meets Boy is about a brief encounter and a fleeting moment of happiness and possible love.

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

Director Eloy de la Iglesia’s controversial classic ‘Hidden Pleasures’ is now available in a new restoration

Highly controversial at the time of its release in 1977, Hidden Pleasures is one of the first films in the history of Spanish cinema to prominently feature gay characters and themes.

Directed by acclaimed underground filmmaker Eloy de la Iglesia, the film stars Simon Andreu as Eduardo, a wealthy, but lonely and deeply closeted bank manager in his forties.

Though he’s secretive about his sex life, Eduardo uses his social and economic position to win over young men. In one of his regular cruising sessions, he meets and falls head over heels for Miguel, an attractive young straight guy played by Tony Fuentes.

As Eduardo’s infatuation with the young man grows deeper, it sets up a complicated love triangle between the pair and Miguel’s girlfriend Carmen (Beatriz Rossat) – not to mention Rosa (Charo López), the older married neighbor with whom Miguel is having an affair.

Though it’s clearly a product of the 1970s, Hidden Pleasures was truly radical at the time of its release. Though it was initially banned be Spanish censors, it was championed by film critics who opposed the ongoing censorship in the years after Francisco Franco’s death.

The film’s premiere was met with massive street demonstrations by gay activists who came out in support of Eloy de la Iglesia’s bold new vision.

Watch a short clip from Hidden Pleasures below. The full, newly-restored film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: October Boy

The stylish short film October Boy concerns Thomas (Elias Budde Christensen), a shy 14-year-old boy who has just moved to Copenhagen with his mom. Thomas likes to draw, it’s a way for him to escape from the pressure around him. In school he meets Mads and Emma (Noa Risbro Hjerrild and Esther Marie Boisen Berg).

Mads likes Thomas’ drawings, whereas Emma is romantically interested in Thomas and invites him home with her. Just before leaving, Thomas meets Emma’s older brother (Jacob August Ottensten), a young, emerging artist. The meeting changes something within him.

Rumors start circulating about Emma and Thomas – and though he doesn’t deny them, Thomas can’t understand his feelings, how to act in the new school or control the lies he has created to be popular.

A powerful 29-minute coming-of-age drama from Danish director Soren Green, October Boy is film about all the things that change us as people during out adolescence.

Watch the trailer for October Boy below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Get seduced by Dekkoo’s Gay Erotic Thrillers Collection!

Dekkoo is proud to present The Gay Erotic Thrillers Collection.

We love a good erotic thriller. Although the best known entries of the genre usually concern straight characters, they always seemed to have a slightly over-the-top camp sensibility – plus icy femme fatales that have inspired countless drag homages.

Though the erotic thriller heyday of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s are long behind us, there has been plenty of similar cinematic intrigue in the world of LGBTQ+ film. This month, we’re spotlighting a few of our favorites from around the globe.

Get seduced by this sensual collection of films that walk a razor’s edge between pleasure and danger – all from the safe comfort of your own home.

The Gay Erotic Thrillers Collection includes the films Last Ferry, Young Hunter, The Acrobat, Cola de Mono, M/M, The Skin of the Teeth, Blackmail Boys, Complete Strangers and The Year I Lost My Mind.

Polish director Kamil Krawczycki’s ‘Elephant’ is a gorgeously crafted, old-fashioned gay romance

Beautifully shot above the Polish countryside, Elephant tells the story of Bartek (Jan Hrynkiewicz) a 22-year-old man who runs a small horse farm.

When both his father and sister suddenly leave, sending his mother into an emotional breakdown, Bartek is forced to become the head of the household.

After the sudden death of a neighbor, he is introduced to the deceased’s estranged son, David (Pawel Tomaszewski), who has returned home for the funeral.

David’s independence and recklessness fascinate Bartek. The two soon begin to fall in love, but as they attempt to hide their romance, they end up navigating a homophobic rural environment, personal family obligations and the need to prioritize a future above all else.

Director and screenwriter Kamil Krawczycki paints an intimate and subtle portrait of a blossoming relationship in this award-winning romantic drama, following one young man torn between family obligations and his own freedom.

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

‘Malila: The Farewell Flower’ is a heady and visually sumptuous spiritual gay romance

From Anucha Boonyawatana, the Thai director behind The Blue Hour and Down the River, Malila: The Farewell Flower is a haunting and stunningly gorgeous romantic drama.

The film follows former gay lovers Shane and Pitch (Sukollawat Kanarot and Anuchit Sapanpong) as they reunite after years apart and try to heal the wounds of their past. Shane is haunted by the tragic death of his daughter, while Pitch suffers a grave illness, rejecting medical treatment as painful and ineffective.

A talented artist, Pitch creates beautiful structures made out of flowers and banana leaves as a way to cope with his deteriorating health. Meanwhile, Shane trains to become a Buddhist monk, in an effort to build karma for Pitch… to either keep him alive or to help him along in his eventual afterlife.

A remarkably beautiful, spiritual film, Malila: The Farewell Flower is as close to transcendent as cinema gets.

Watch the trailer for Malila: The Farewell Flower below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.