Queer Cinema

Nightmarish folk horror film Saint Drogo is brutal, bleak and erotic: Nightmares Film Festival Review

After announcing themselves as a queer filmmaking collective that weren’t afraid to take risks with both the horror genre they clearly adore and certain dynamics within their own community with their campy, giallo-inspired slasher Death Drop Gorgeous (now streaming on Shudder), Monster Makeup, LLC have more proven they aren’t a flash in the pan –…

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AFF Review: Housekeeping for Beginners explores queer family dynamics in a Macedonian household

Housekeeping for Beginners is set in a chaotic family home in Macedonia. However, this is no ordinary household. Dita lives with her girlfriend and her two daughters, tiny troublemaker Mia and rebellious teen Vanesa. The house is a sort of drop-in centre for the queer and homeless, with Toni, who tends to pick up younger guys…

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Big Easy Queens takes pride in its midnight movie mentality: Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival Review

A truly bizarre melting pot of a film that takes pride in its giallo-inspired-horror-melded-with-camp-musical-comedy mentality, Big Easy Queens in an intentionally ridiculous, over-the-top experiment that, for the right audience, will prove a bloody wild ride. Set in a mob-run criminal underworld of sorts, Erynn Dalton‘s genre-mash of a movie has been primarily made for the…

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Film Review: Chrissy Judy embraces its own queer personality with a raw, occasionally unlikeable edge

The release of Chrissy Judy feels rather aptly timed at the given moment considering the unnecessary controversy around the artform that is drag.  Its history has never been tied to sex or sexuality, so it’s incredibly ironic that anti-LGBTQIA+ conservatives have peddled their agenda against the art and have positioned themselves as “protecting” children from…

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Film Review: Lonesome revels in the filthy reality of queer eroticism

You’ve really got to hand it to writer/director Craig Boreham for embracing queer eroticism and all that entails in Lonesome, a movie that revels in filth but is at its most uncomfortable when it simply lets its lead characters exist. Casey (Josh Lavery) is the embodiment of the titular state, a cowboy who has escaped…

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Film Review: Unsound is a mostly winning affair that overcomes its narrative simplicities with a queer authenticity

A film that takes pride in its conversational awareness of both the LGBTIQA+ and deaf and/or hard of hearing communities, Unsound may not always hit the right notes but there’s plenty of charm in the melody along the way. Centred around deaf Sydney-sider Finn (Yiana Pandelis), a transgender man navigating the complexities of being trans…

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MQFF Film Review: My Fiona is an emotionally excruciating navigation of mourning and self-discovery

The framing of My Fiona‘s opening scene is laced with a certain tension that very much clues the audience in on the fact that the film’s protagonist, Jeanette Maus‘s Jane, is about to have her life horrifically shattered.  It’s an emotional, painful way for us to bond with a character, but it immediately establishes a…

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Queer Screen Film Fest Review: Cicada is a beautiful and tragic film that wisely doesn’t preach to its audience

Given how authentic this “based on real events” tale proves to be, it’s safe to assume that writer/director/actor Matthew Fifer is baring a healthy portion of his soul and experiences in Cicada.  Likely to ring true with queer audiences – especially gay men – the film tackles uncomfortable subjects and presents promiscuous sex in an…

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Queer Screen Film Fest Review: Stage Mother is an entertaining yet forgettable affair

In 2020, a movie detailing the drag scene and the straight Texan mother who comes to embrace it following the death of her queer son should be something worth remembering.  Even more so when said mother is portrayed by a seasoned performer like Jacki Weaver.  Sadly, as well-intentioned as Stage Mother is, it’s a forgettable…

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AF Film Review: Four Days in France (France, 2016) is all in the name

Four Days in France really is about four days outside of Paris. Since Pierre (Pascal Cervo) has floored it out of the city into a freeway odyssey, with no change of clothes and no clear destination, he is relying on other gay men for somewhere to sleep and just pass the time. He finds young,…

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