Category: New Release

‘Wake Up, Leonard’ is here to satisfy your neurotic, quirky gay Christmas comedy needs!

Part comedy, part self-help nightmare, Wake Up, Leonard follows the adventures of one man who is failing miserably at “staying on the right vibe.” Set during the holidays, the film tells the story of a broken-hearted seeker with a tenuous grasp on wellness and too much faith in “the Universe.”

Leonard (co-writer Nigel DeFriez) is a self-obsessed young gay man who is moving into a new apartment with help from his perpetually stoned sister Orla (Kira Pearson).

An out-of-work actor and overworked assistant, Leonard rushes to his boss’s house to hang Christmas decorations and receives an unexpected text from his ex that gives Leonard lots of false hope, but little direction. Should he get back with his ex? Is this what will finally solve his existential quandary? There is only one way to find out.

An improvised feature shot during the pandemic, Wake Up, Leonard is a deeply funny and thoughtful feel-good movie about feeling bad, exploring themes of mental health, queer love and self-acceptance.

Watch the trailer for Wake Up, Leonard below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Dekkoo Films presents Bad Together – now available to rent or own!

From creator Jono Mitchell, the writer, director and actor behind Making a Scene, Thirty Candles and Miles from Nowhere, Bad Together is a brand-new Dekkoo-original that follows the evolving friendship between two gay men as they learn to accept and love both themselves and one another.

Andres Erickson stars as Robbie, a sensitive young casting associate who is reeling after a recent break-up. When his best friend Emma drags him to a work party in an effort to cheer him up, he meets the charming and freewheeling Cameron, played by Queer Niro.

The story checks in with the pair at different moments throughout the years-long relationship that develops. Are these two just friends or are there deeper feeling that aren’t being expressed? And, more importantly, are they even a good match for one another?

Intelligently written, acted and directed, Bad Together examines modern queer relationships with a keen eye and a lot of heart.

Bad Together is now available to rent or own from all major VOD platforms. It will be available to Dekkoo subscribers in 2024.

Sex and politics collide in the recently restored 1978 classic ‘Confessions of a Congressman’

Spanish director Eloy de la Iglesia specialized in many genres (including many legendarily gritty B-movies of the 1970s), but he doesn’t get as much credit for creating some of the first openly gay films in Spain’s cinematic history.

Fighting for liberty, love and your secret teenage lover are the themes of his 1978 film Confessions of a Congressman. Roberto (Jose Sacristan) is our protagonist. He is a leader and follower of the ideals of his radical leftist opposition party, but he’s hiding a secret from the party and his wife Carmen (Maria Luisa San Jose): he can’t resist the cheap beautiful street hustlers that bad-boy Nes (Angel Pardo) throws his way for various pleasures.

Eventually, the fascists find out about his proclivities and hire the blonde and angelic-looking Juanito (Jose Luis Alonso) to infiltrate Roberto’s life. But after a while, Juanito starts to find his place with Roberto, with politics and even with Carmen.

With the elections fast approaching all three members of this strange throuple will have to decide how much they’re willing to lose to avoid revealing the truth.

Watch a teaser trailer for Confessions of a Congressman below. The newly restored film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Pedro Almodóvar presents this stylish thriller about one of Argentina’s most infamous criminals

Produced by Pedro and Augustin Almodóvar, El Angel is a provocative true crime drama – exploring the short, violent career of Argentina’s most infamous and longest-serving convicted killer.

Carlitos (Lorenzo Ferro) is a seventeen-year-old youth with blonde curls, a baby face and movie star swagger. As a young boy, he coveted other people’s things, but it wasn’t until his early adolescence that his true calling – to be a thief – manifested itself.

When he meets Ramon (Chino Darin) at his new school, Carlitos is immediately drawn to him and starts showing off to get his attention. Together they will embark on a journey of discoveries, love and crime. Killing is just a random offshoot of the violence, which continues to escalate until Carlitos is finally apprehended.

Because of his angelic appearance, the press dubs him ‘The Angel of Death.’ He’s soon showered with attention because of his beauty and becomes an unlikely overnight celebrity, despite his long list of offenses.

A flamboyant, pop-energized portrait of a serial killer, El Angel made a big splash when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, even drawing comparisons to some of Martin Scorsese’s most revered crime sagas.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Graduation

Four Chinese Americans must navigate their future as dictated by the circumstances of life and their families in Graduation, a funny and bittersweet 6-minute short film from writer-director Robin Wang.

Produced with help from the University of Southern California, the film stars Todd Lien and Dylan J. Locke as Caleb and Wizz, two students who are deeply in love, but keeping their relationship a secret from their conservative Chinese parents.

After a dinner celebrating Wizz’s graduation, the boys excuse themselves, telling Wizz’s mother and Caleb’s father that they’re leaving to see a movie. Truthfully, they go off to spend some romantic time together before Wizz leaves for Shanghai and the two are forced to part ways.

When they oversleep and wake up in their car, they believe it will spell their doom – not knowing that their wistful single parents are up to some shenanigans of their own back at Caleb’s father’s house.

Watch a short teaser trailer for Graduation below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A newly restored HD version of ‘Boy Culture’ is now available on Dekkoo!

Back in 2006, director and co-writer Q. Allan Brocka created a gorgeously textured gay indie film that not only explored the recesses of the human heart, but was charged with sex and filled with laughter.

Adapted from the outstanding novel by Matthew Rettenmund, Boy Culture tells the story of X (Derek Magyar), a high-end sex worker, and his two roommates Andrew and Joey (Darryl Stephens and Jonathan Trent).

Together, the three men have created a family for the 21st century. X is the head of the household who brings home the bacon and sets the tone. He has a serious crush on Andrew, who works at a video store and is waiting for the right man… and in Andrew’s opinion, a hustler is just not the right man. Joey is a 17-year-old whirlwind of trouble, but there’s really only one man he wants: X.

The sexual tension between the trio is palpable. With a mix of insight, wit and raunchy self-awareness, Boy Culture charmed gay audiences when it was released nearly two decades ago – and fans now have reason to get excited. Not only is the original Boy Culture back on Dekkoo, but there is a brand-new follow-up series in the works which will is now available to rent of buy from all the usual VOD services and will be streaming on Dekkoo early next year!

Watch the original trailer for Boy Culture below. The new HD Version is now available on Dekkoo.

Now Available: My Straight Son

Guillermo García stars in the gay family drama My Straight Son as Diego, a successful young photographer who lives inside a glamorous world of fashion, shallowness and excess.

When a tragic accident leaves his partner in a coma, it turns Diego’s whole world upside down. Unexpectedly, during this difficult time, he learns that we also must take care of his son, Armando (Ignacio Montes).

Now, both of them have to adapt to each other; Armando to the unknown, homosexual world of his father, and Diego to the closed-off, conservative attitudes of his teenage son.

Directed by well-known telenovela actor Miguel Ferrari and featuring performances by numerous Venezuelan television personalities, My Straight Son channels the early melodramas of Pedro Almodovar to tell a proudly sentimental gay father-son story.

A winner of numerous awards, this is also one of the first Venezuelan films to openly deal with gay and transgender topics.

Watch the trailer for My Straight Son below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Exteriors’ tells three interweaving stories about men facing different modern relationship issues

Three gay men each find themselves facing modern relationship issues in Exteriors, a collection of three interweaving stories from writer-director Mark Schwab.

In the first story, Christian Gabriel and Matthew Bridges star as Wyatt and Logan, two best friends who are both unknowingly in love with Shane (played by Jacob Betts). Wyatt becomes aware of the triangle before Logan and must choose whether to stay loyal to his friend or go after the object of his affection.

The second story follows Jason (Julian Goza), a pool boy who realizes that his new client is the same man he had a deeply romantic experience with eight years earlier. Both men must carefully navigate their feelings as they explore this reunion and what their original encounter meant to each of them.

Peter Stickles stars in the third chapter as Dr. Lesh, a therapist who has developed an unhealthy obsession with one of his patients. When the doctor starts fantasizing about crossing ethical borders, a suspenseful chain of lies, deceit and betrayal is set in motion.

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

Short Film Spotlight: For the Time Being

A steamy 35-minute short film from European director Daniela Lucato, For the Time Being stars Crisjan Zollner as Roman, a middle-aged man who has recently split from his wife and finds himself living alone for the first time in a long time.

When he decides to sublet one of his rooms to Mel, a younger and strikingly attractive French immigrant played by Pascal Houdus, everything he thought he knew about his life and his sexuality begins to unravel.

Suddenly, Roman is left wondering who he is and what he would like to change in his life.

Letting the sexual tension simmer, For the Time Being is a thoughtful and stylishly-crafted adult relationship drama.

Watch a short trailer for For the Time Being below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Two up-and-coming gay songwriters get a little too close to screen legend Gloria Swanson in ‘Boulevard: A Hollywood Story’

For Gloria Swanson, the iconic star of Sunset Boulevard, both the movie and the character of Norma Desmond provided a renewed spotlight.

Swanson strategically began efforts to parlay her success into a musical stage adaptation of the film. Enter, Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley, two struggling songwriters-in-love looking for their big break.

Enamored by the idea of helping Swanson step into the next phase of her career, Stapley and Hughes found themselves whisked away by Swanson to a sumptuous house in Palm Springs, where the trio started creating the musical.

As the days wore on, an unusual love triangle began to take hold. Hughes and Stapley found their intimate relationship intruded upon by Swanson.

Boulevard: A Hollywood Story is a fascinating documentary about three individuals who attempted to share a melody… and how the music of that moment defined the rest of their lives.

Watch the trailer for Boulevard: A Hollywood Story below. The full documentary is now available on Dekkoo.