Category: New This Week

You Are My Sunshine celebrates the power of one gay couple’s life-long romance

Taking place in two alternating time periods – the 1970s and modern day – You Are My Sunshine follows long-term partners Tom and Joe (played as younger men by Steve Salt and Jack Knight and as older men by Ernest Vernon and Charles O’Neill).

Joe, a shy young man living with his conservative father and his sister in Britain, meets the playful and charismatic Tom through work in the 1970s. There is an instant connection between the two young men. Tom’s confident personality helps Joe to come out of his shell. Meanwhile, the sudden visibility of queer rights activists starts to disturb Joe’s family. Even in the present day, though Joe and Tom have been together for decades, Joe’s sister still harbors major resentments when it comes to her brother’s sexuality.

As the younger versions of Joe and Tom worry about their love being discovered, the older versions are dealing with health issues and family strife. Through two powerful characters, writer-director David Hastings offers a message of how love and acceptance can change even the hardest of hearts.

Watch the trailer for You Are My Sunshine below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

New This Week – 7/15/22

When Paulo, a young pianist, meets Ilir, a bass player, they quickly fall in love. The pair soon end up living together, but when Ilir leaves town for a concert and ends up in jail, their relationship faces almost insurmountable obstacles. From prolific writer-director David Lambert, ‘Beyond the Walls’ is a heartbreaking examination of the thrills, sacrifices and disappointments of falling in love. Watch ‘Beyond the Walls’ on Dekkoo!

During a seaside vacation, ten-year-old Remi finds himself becoming increasingly fascinated by Stephane, the father of one of his friends. This confusing new feeling proves quite powerful. Nobody seems to know what Remi is going through…least of all his handsome new crush. ‘The Swimming Trunks’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo!

A conservative professor at a Christian college goes undercover, passing himself off as a gay man in order to stop the launch of a homeless shelter for LGBTQ youth in his small town. But as he gets closer to the local gay community, he sets out on a journey of truth and compassion, learning that life and love are not as black and white as he once thought. Stream ‘At the End of the Day’ now on Dekkoo!

Now Available: From Zero to I Love You

Pete (Darryl Stephens) has an unfortunate habit of beginning affairs with closeted married men. His father (Richard Lawson) and his soon-to-be step mom (Leslie Zemeckis) are on the hunt to find him someone who’s actually available and can settle down, but Pete’s relationships typically end because of his commitment issues. He moves on and the married men return to their families.

Jack (Scott Bailey) has a wife and two kids in the suburbs, but he’s been frequenting the gay bars of Philadelphia. When he meets Pete, the sparks start to fly. Jack promises to leave his wife, but Pete has heard that line many times before. Could this time possibly be different… for both of them? And how much destruction will they leave in their wake?

A gay romantic comedy that doesn’t shy away from exploring darker themes – closeted life, infidelity – From Zero to I Love You succeeds on the strength of its lead performances. Stephens and Bailey have an easy, believable chemistry that sells their weight of their relationship and its inherent difficulties.

From Zero to I Love You was written and directed by accomplished character actor Doug Spearman a veteran of the series Noah’s Arc (along with Stephens) and the same director behind the 2013 gay buddy cop comedy Hot Guys with Guns.

Watch the trailer for From Zero to I Love You below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Griffica

A wildly inventive new short horror-comedy from writer-director C.J. Arellano, Griffica tells a story about a man whose new boyfriend may be a little too perfect.

When “The Narrator” (James Dolbeare) injures himself attempting a death drop in his apartment, his stunningly attractive neighbor comes to his rescue and soon becomes “The Boyfriend” (Ulyses Espinoza). The early days of their relationship are exceptional. This new beau attends to our lead’s every whim and need. He’s thoughtful, loving, confident, knowledgeable and, above all else, he makes a mean cup of iced coffee that “smells like lavender and world peace.”

Soon enough, this dream partner’s perfection begins grating on our narrator’s nerves. By contrast, he starts to only see his own inadequacies. A year into their relationship, things come to a dramatic head. When the narrator calls his brother to vent his frustrations, he learns about a demonic deity that bears striking similarities to his lover. Could Mr. Right have secretly been an agent of evil this whole time? And what is his master plan?

With visual flair, whip-smart writing and knowing nods to Rosemary’s Baby, Griffica is a delightfully twisted 11-minute short that marks C.J. Arellano as a director to watch. We could easily see him fleshing this film out into a full-length feature.

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

A loner and a star athlete form an unlikely bond at their Irish boarding school in the uplifting Handsome Devil

With bright red hair, a smart mouth and a penchant for sexually-ambiguous pop music, Ned, played by Fionn O’Shea, has always been bait for the bullies at his rugby-obsessed Irish boarding school.

Determined to keep a low profile and weather another year with minimal abuse, Ned is pleasantly surprised when he develops a special friendship with his dashing new roommate Conor, played by Nicholas Galitzine, a rugby virtuoso who shouldn’t have trouble fitting in, but harbors a few big secrets. Ned encourages Conor’s passion for music, but when their pursuits start to take Conor’s focus away from rugby, their friendship is discouraged by the administration.

A funny and observant coming-of-age tale from Irish novelist and filmmaker John Butler, Handsome Devil offers a touching reminder about the importance of loyalty, bravery and making sure that your voice, no matter how different, is heard.

A true heart-warmer, Handsome Devil earned raves from critics when it debuted back in 2017. The Observer called it “a warm, reassuring hug of a film that should be shown to every confused kid trying to piece together their identity.” Film Ireland called it “a satisfying examination of masculinity… presenting an encouraging message for teenagers to not be bound by stereotypes if it feels unnatural to them.”

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

New This Week – 7/8/22

***A DEKKOO EXCLUSIVE***

A deeply emotional new romance from writer-director David Hastings, ‘You Are My Sunshine’ follows the lifelong relationship between Tom and Joe (played by Steve Salt and Jack Knight as young men and by Ernest Vernon and Charles O’Neill as the characters in their twilight years). The film follows them from their first meeting in the 1970s, when the world refuses to accept their love, through to their heartbreaking final days, decades later. ‘You Are My Sunshine’ is available now, exclusively on Dekkoo!

Roberto, a mature widower, and Félix, a young photographer, explore a complex attraction to each other. In the process, they face anxiety, their fear of abandonment, and the emotional paralysis that drowns them. Stream ‘Amphore’ now on Dekkoo!

Mateo is an intelligent boy who falls in love with Daniel, but when everyone reveals that relationship, Mateo is at a crossroads, and will have to decide between fighting his adversities, or giving up everything, until his life. Watch ‘Green Butterflies’ now on Dekkoo!

_____________________

Coming next week: Two young men – one a needy and lost man-boy, the other a guarded but lonely bartender – embark on a fun, intense relationship… only to see it threatened when one is imprisoned for drug possession.

Now Available: Let My People Go

A charming and hilarious fusion of gay romantic comedy, Jewish family drama and French bedroom farce, director Mikael Buch’s Let My People Go follows the travails and daydreams of a lovelorn young mail carrier named Ruben, played by “Call My Agent” and Knife+Heart star Nicolas Maury.

Though born and raised by a Jewish family in France, Ruben is now living out a fairytale fantasy with his gorgeous Nordic boyfriend in Finland – where he got his MA in “Comparative Sauna Cultures.” Unfortunately for him, a series of mishaps and a lovers’ quarrel exile the heartbroken Ruben back to Paris and his zany family just before Passover.

Now he’s stuck, forced to regress in the company of his ditzy mom, played by Almodovar goddess Carmen Maura, and his aging lothario father, played by Truffaut regular Jean-François Stévenin.

Co-scripted by Buch and renowned arthouse auteur Christophe Honoré, the writer-director behind Dans Paris, Love Songs and Sorry Angel, Let My People Go both celebrates and upends Jewish and gay stereotypes with wit, gusto and style to spare. The result is deeply heartwarming, fabulously kitschy and hysterically funny.

Watch the trailer for Let My People Go below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.

Now Available: Enfant Terrible

When 22-year-old Rainer Werner Fassbinder stormed onto the stage of a small, progressive theatre in 1967 Munich and seized the production, nobody suspected that this brazen young rebel would go on to become one of the most important post-war German filmmakers. But that’s exactly what happened.

His immense catalog of work is still unparalleled. Fassbinder, who lived hard and died at the young age of 37, crammed no fewer than 40 feature films, two dozen plays and an epic 16-hour miniseries into his brief, but intense lifetime. Many of his films were breakout hits at the most renowned film festivals in the world and continue to both inspire and polarize audiences, critics and filmmakers today.

His open bisexuality, radical views and self-exploitation, as well as his longing for love, made him one of the most fascinating directors of all time.

Co-writer/director Oskar Roehler and lead actor Oliver Masucci bring the unabashedly queer iconoclast to life in Enfant Terrible – and it’s not always pretty. The film takes an unflinching look at some of Fassbinder’s wildest and most notorious moments, unafraid to examine them through a more contemporary lens, but never losing sight of what made him such a mad cinematic genius in the first place –  albeit a highly controversial one.

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

New This Week – 7/1/22

Fionn O’Shea and Nicholas Galitzine star in this touching comedy about two boys at a strict Irish boarding school who are forced to share a room. Though one is a bullied loner and the other the star athlete of their rugby-obsessed school, they form an unlikely bond – until it’s tested by those around them. ‘Handsome Devil’ is available now on Dekkoo!

Examining a psychological clash between two queer men with differing backstories, writer-director C.J.Arellano’s clever new horror short follows a gay man who suspects that his coffee-loving boyfriend maybe a demon in disguise. Stream the short film ‘Griffica’ now on Dekkoo!

***EPISODES 25, 26, AND 27 NOW AVAILABLE!***

Scott, a mild-mannered gay writer in Los Angeles, gets wrapped up into a world of bad boys and their crime-filled past after being adopted as their “Daddy Scott”, whether he likes it or not. Watch the final episodes of ‘Bad Boy’ now!

_______________________________

Coming next week: A brand-new release the tells the story of one gay couple’s love as it stands the test of time. 

New Episodes of the Dekkoo Original Series Here Comes Your Man are Now Available!

A charming, funny, sexy and refreshingly realistic 5-episode Dekkoo Original Series from creator/director Omar Salas Zamora, Here Comes Your Man followed the relationship of two very different young men who tried to make love work, but hit many roadblocks along the way.

Now available, Season Two picks up post-break-up and follows our beloved leads Jordan (Calvin Picou) and Aaron (Jason Alan Clark) on their new separate adventures – along with some new and old friends who take center stage.

Aaron is navigating a new, but woefully causal relationship with cutie-pie Julio (Alessandro De Gennaro) – and trying to move it somewhere more serious. Jordan is elsewhere entirely. He’s settling into his new home in Omaha, Nebraska while looking to record his album. Meanwhile, Dustin (Matthew Namik) becomes entangled in an online romance while Cassie (Noelle Miller) reignites her romance with Malcolm (Clay von Carlowitz).

Watch the full trailer for the new season below! Both seasons of Here Comes Your Man are available now on Dekkoo!