Category: New Release

A visitor adds some tension to a gay couple’s dream vacation in the erotic drama ‘Wasp’

Simon Haycock and Hugo Bolton star in Wasp as Olivier and James, an attractive gay couple who are about to enjoy a romantic summer break in the south of France.

The pair’s long-awaited vacation is interrupted, however, by the sudden arrival of Caroline, an old friend of James played by Elly Condron. Having suffered a recent break-up, she is now single and looking to mingle.

At first, everything seems calm as the unexpected trio spend their time around the swimming pool and exploring the isolated village. Slowly however, Caroline starts making her attraction to Olivier known.

As Oliver, who came out late in life and has had relationships with women previously, starts to question his desires, a rift begins to form in his romance with James, who is becoming increasingly more suspicious.

Friendships are questioned and sexual attraction will soon be tested in this tense three-hander from UK-based writer-director Philippe Audi-Dor, who based the screenplay on his own struggles with sexuality during his early 20s.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Bubble Gum

Shooting in black and white, writer-director Karina Grinstein pays tribute to classic silent films while giving them a modern spin with her 12-minute short film Bubble Gum.

Channeling Buster Keaton, Mariano Rojo stars as David, a single 23-year-old who finds himself deeply unsatisfied with his love life. Everywhere he looks, David seems to find happy couples in his line of vision, but he just can’t seem to find the right match for himself.

When he spots a potential female suitor on the streets, he makes great efforts just to avoid her. Despite her advances, she’s clearly not the one. But when he accidentally bumps into an attractive, bearded young professional, something about their passing moment together feels entirely different.

Though they quickly part ways, it seems that his whole world suddenly has more color – both literally and figuratively. When the two young men happen upon each other once again, it becomes clear that the feelings are mutual.

Watch the trailer for Bubble Gum below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.

‘Ganymede’ is a clever and skillfully-crafted coming-out fable for queer horror fans

A metaphorical queer horror fable, Ganymede follows a high school athlete whose burgeoning sexual desires arrive with unexpectedly terrifying side-effects.

Jordan Doww stars in the film as Lee Fletcher. A wrestling star and third generation heir to the county commissioners seat, he’s a big deal in his small town.

When Lee develops a crush on an openly gay classmate named Kyle (Pablo Castelblanco), he finds himself stalked by a grotesque creature that emerges from the waters of his family’s lake – and literally inhabits his closet.

As the creature begins to infect Lee’s thoughts, he seeks Kyle’s advice. His parents catch them in an intimate moment that puts their relationship on the rocks and lands Lee in the office of the family’s extreme pastor, who blames Kyle and administers a dangerous treatment.

Tensions rise as the boys’ families butt heads over how to approach their children’s growing desires. Lee struggles with his attraction to Kyle and suffers escalating torment from the grotesque creature… until he is finally forced to confront an essential truth about himself.

Robin Lively, David Koechner and ‘Stranger Things’ alum Joe Chrest co-star in this clever and skillfully mounted parable from co-directors Sam Probst and Colby Holt, which uses classic horror tropes to illustrate some essential truths about coming out in a conservative environment.

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

‘To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything’ takes viewers on an intimate trip through Southern Decadence

The action-packed documentary To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything follows the lives of drag queen extraordinaires Laveau Contraire and Franky Canga as they prepare for Southern Decadence, a weekend of queer celebration in New Orleans.

During this behind-the-scenes journey, we meet a rich community of Southern artists who proudly challenge social norms and the boundaries of self-expression.

Showcasing the diversity of New Orleans while teaching a poignant lesson about knowing your worth, this new film from director Stuart Sox provides a personal perspective from the performers as well as the producers, as Laveau strives to create more opportunities for BIPOC performance artists.

From drag queens to burlesque performers and everything in between, To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything is a lively portrait of a nearly 50-year tradition and the diversity community that pulls it together year after year.

Watch the trailer for To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Théodore Pellerin and Félix Maritaud star in the irresistible romantic drag drama ‘Solo’

Théodore Pellerin stars in Solo as Simon, a rising star in Montreal’s drag scene who vibrates with the passion of his adopted artistic community.

Performing lively disco pop numbers weekly at his local club, he’s friendly with his fellow drag queens and supported by his sister, who delights in designing increasingly elaborate and beautiful costumes for his act.

When he meets Oliver, an alluring new recruit played by French BPM and Sauvage/Wild heartthrob Félix Maritaud, their irresistible chemistry sparks an electric romance and a fulfilling creative collaboration. Their dynamic is mesmerizing and tender until Oliver’s dominant instincts and destructive behavior jeopardize Simon’s space in the spotlight.

Simon has plenty of experience with tempestuous personalities – his mother, a bona fide opera diva, is back in his life after years on the road – but can he get out from under the shadow of their influence?

Beautifully charting the highs and lows of falling in love and finding yourself in art, writer-director Sophie Dupuis’s Solo is a passionate feat of character-driven storytelling and visual extravagance, celebrating the drag world in all its splendor and heartache.

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

A young actor is put in an uncomfortable position in the short film ‘Go Crazy with Crazy’

Struggling actors have to jump through all kinds of hoops in search of their big breaks. Too often, however, as the #MeToo movement proved, they’re asked to go to unreasonable lengths.

Based on a wild true story, director Ayana Barber’s 9-minute short Go Crazy with Crazy follows a young gay actor who is put in a deeply uncomfortable position.

Justin Garascia, who also wrote the screenplay, stars as the actor in question. After meeting and falling into bed with a promising young director named Joey (Jimmy Brooks), he’s closer than ever to landing the lead role of a meth-addicted gay porn star in a potentially groundbreaking indie film.

But when he’s asked to partake in a very unusual audition process, the young man takes to Google and discovers something fishy about the director. Not willing to compromise his integrity or his safety, he attends the audition ready for a fight – aiming to finally set the record straight and send an unforgettable message about the consequences of catfishing.

Watch a quick teaser trailer for Go Crazy with Crazy below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Hole

An award-winning short film from Canadian writer-director Martin Edralin, Hole is a powerful piece of work, shining light on a topic – and a kind of character – that are too often ignored.

Ken Harrower stars in the film as Billy, a middle-aged disabled man who yearns for an intimate connection in his solitary life. While roaming the city streets in pursuit of intimacy, he finds his disability a constant barrier to his emotional and sexual needs.

The closest thing Billy has to a friend is Craig, a handsome caregiver played by Sebastian Deery, who visits daily to help him with chores and bathing. With no other options, Billy turns to his only friend for some much-coveted relief.

Unflinchingly honest, Hole is a bold and provocative study of disability, sexuality, loneliness, lust and the not-unreasonable request to be treated with basic human dignity.

Watch a quick trailer for Hole below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

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.

‘Room for a Man’ is a deeply personal, remarkably assured doc about identity and sexuality

One of the first things that writer, director and documentary subject Anthony Chidiac confesses in his deeply personal film Room for a Man, is that he is paralyzed by fear. He finds the very concept of life in the outside world overwhelming.

Chidiac lives with his mother, a French teacher, in Beirut, and rarely leaves the house. His home is a refuge, but in some respects it’s also a prison. To Anthony, the outside world feels like a hostile environment. That’s partly because of his sexuality – something that his own family refuses to accept. His mom wanted him to become a notary, so that he would earn a lot of money and become ‘a real man.’ But that’s not how he sees himself.

When his bedroom undergoes a renovation, much to his mother’s dismay, Syrian construction workers arrive to do the remodeling. As they peel away at the walls, Anthony engages them in an exploration of his own identity and sexuality within the confines of the apartment.

As the construction workers come and go in the freshly embattled household, unexpected passions get stirred. Through the process of renovation – and the making of this film – Anthony finally begins to blossom and embrace his own identity.

Though he may suffer from insecurities, his filmmaking is remarkably self-assured. Room for a Man is a courageous, stylish and ultimately life-affirming cinematic experiment.

Watch a short trailer for Room for a Man 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.