The Gay Cinema Video On Demand experience at TLAgay.com has your entertainment needs covered! We’re always working to expand selection of new and old gay-themed movies available for your viewing pleasure. With hearts a-flutter this Valentine’s Day, we decided to put together a list of some of our favorite recent gay romances – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!
Brotherly Love
Brotherly Love is the films adaptation of the Lambda Literary Award-nominated novel “Seventy Times Seven” by Salvatore Sapienza. Which “calling” do you answer? The one you feel from God or the one you feel about your true authentic self? That is the exact dilemma that Brother Vito (played by writer/director Anthony J. Caruso) is facing. He’s gay, but devoted to his less-than-accepting religious community. Soon, he must decide between becoming a Brother or declaring his love for Gabe (Derek Babb). Shot entirely in Austin, TX and with a local cast and crew, Brotherly Love is a fresh take on the traditional gay love story. You’ll also be happy to know that “The Golden Girls” plays a surprisingly significant role in this touching new romantic drama.
Center of My World
After a summer away at camp, Phil (Louis Hofmann) returns home to find that his mother and twin sister aren’t speaking to one another. Not willing to confront his family during the last days of the summer holidays, Phil escapes to hang out with his best friend, Kat (Svenja Jung), eating ice cream and playing dress-up. As the school year begins, a new student arrives – the handsome and mysterious Nicholas (Jannik Schümann). Smitten, Phil watches his crush as he runs around the track after school, and is thrilled when Nicholas returns his feelings. However, when first love’s volatility comes to light, Phil realizes he must deal with the problems of his past in order to deal with the issues of his present. A touching must-see, Center of My World was chosen as an Official Selection and won numerous “Best Feature Film” and “Best Director” awards at festivals around the globe.
Do You Take This Man?
“Rent” and “Star Trek: Discovery” star Anthony Rapp leads an impressive ensemble cast in this touching comedy-drama about a long-term gay couple having last-minute jitters before they get married. On the eve of their wedding, Daniel (Rapp) and Christopher (Mean Girls heartthrob Jonathan Bennett) are having their closest friends and family over for dinner. But when a long-lost friend of Christopher’s shows up unexpectedly, and their already stressful day spirals out of control, the couple realizes they must rely on the kindness of their pals and relatives to get through the event in one piece. Co-starring familiar faces like Thomas Dekker, Mackenzie Astin, Marla Sokoloff and “How I Met Your Mother” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star Alyson Hannigan, Do You Take This Man? is a realistic and absorbing look into what it takes to make a relationship work in this day and age.
Fair Haven
After a long stay in ex-gay conversion therapy, James (Michael Grant), a young piano prodigy, returns home to his family farm and his emotionally distant father, Richard (Tom Wopat). After Richard pressures James to give up his music career and take over the farm, James agrees as a way to make up for his past. Soon, however, James finds himself face-to-face with his former lover, Charlie (Josh Green), who wants to help him turn away from his new beliefs and family expectations, and follow his dreams of studying music. A touching and deeply romantic drama, Fair Haven is often heartbreaking, but ultimately life-affirming. The performances, across the board, are terrific. Veteran character actor Tom Wopat is excellent as the reserved, conflicted father and young up-and-comers Josh Green and Michael Grant make their forbidden romance palpable (and very sweet).
The Falls
In this must-see romantic drama, which earned two sequels (both of which, The Falls: Testament of Love and The Falls: Covenant of Grace, are also available on-demand), two Mormon missionaries fall unexpectedly in love and risk their future in the Church to be together. RJ and Chris (Nick Ferrucci and Benjamin Farmer) are poster boys for the Mormon Church: both have pretty girlfriends, were Eagle Scouts at a young age and have perfect academic records. Now, it’s their turn to serve a mission and experience the Mormon rite of passage. Unknown to them, serving a mission will not only open the doors to strangers’ households – where they preach the Gospel – but it will open up secrets in their own lives – and feelings that they’ve long kept buried. The Falls captures the lives of two American teens struggling to make sense of the conflict between their worlds, their desires, and each other.
4 Days
This one might be the top pick of the list, if only because it actually takes place on Valentine’s Day (four of them, to be exact). Taking place over the course of four years – four consecutive Valentine’s Days – this achingly romantic new indie from Filipino auteur Adolfo Alix Jr. takes an intimate look at the complicated relationship between two college buddies. Derek (Sebastian Castro) has had a string of girlfriends – none of whom he has hung onto for very long. All the while, after each break-up, his best friend Mark (Mikoy Morales) has been waiting on the sidelines – ready to clean Derek’s wounds while harboring secret romantic feelings. Through intrusive, carefully selected long takes, we’re invited to observe the pair year after year and witness as the tension between them escalates. Morales and Castro give exceptional, often heartbreaking performances in this thoughtful and patient romance – wherein the awkward silences and furtive glances speak volumes.
Hidden Kisses
16-year-old Nathan (Bérenger Anceaux), lives alone with his father Stephane (Patrick Timsit). A newcomer to his high school, he is invited to a party and soon becomes smitten with Louis (Jules Houplain), a boy from his class. They find themselves seemingly out of sight and kiss each other sweetly… not realizing that someone has taken a picture of them. Soon, the photo is published on Facebook and a storm overtakes their lives – putting them face to face with severe bullying and rejection. A highly-publicized film that originally aired on French television in 2016, this deeply affecting film is now available on DVD and VOD in the United States. Lead actors Berenger Anceaux and Jules Houplain are both adorable and have great chemistry together. Hidden Kisses is a heartfelt, thoughtful, beautifully directed film that will linger with you long after the final credits have rolled.
Last Summer
A hauntingly atmospheric indie film that largely flew under the radar, Last Summer tells the story of two high school sweethearts, Luke and Jonah (Samuel Pettit and Sean Rose), who spend their final months together over the course of a long, quiet summer in the rural South, contemplating their uncertain future and the uncertain future of America. Jonah, sensitive, quiet and artistic, prepares to leave his small town for college, leaving Luke behind, but all he wants is for Luke to ask him to stay. But Luke, an athlete struggling through summer school, knows that his boyfriend needs to experience the world beyond their home. A positively gorgeous, melancholy meditation on young love that will touch your heart, the film positions their love story against a world of baseball fields, bicycles, church and seemingly conservative values. The boys, though, never face adversity from their community; instead, in a clever and original move, director Mark Thiedeman makes sure that their relationship fits directly into the fabric of their all-American small town.
Out in the Dark
Out in the Dark follows a young, affluent and ambitious Palestinian grad student and a Jewish lawyer who fall in love. The adorable Nimr (Nicholas Jacob) crosses the border to study and occasionally to meet his friends at a gay nightclub in Tel Aviv. One night, he is introduced to the handsome and wealthy Roy (Michael Aloni) and an instant attraction ensues. While Tel Aviv is ostensibly more accepting of Palestinians being present, Nimr’s homeland is not. He struggles to keep the peace with his Muslim family – especially his brother, who is now a member of a radical, extremist anti-Palestinian organization. Despite being surrounded by all of these weighty (and sometimes dangerous) obstacles, the budding couple cannot help but fall immensely in love. Everything soon comes to a gripping head. Nimr is to choose between the life he once dreamed of… or Roy, his true love. From the opening scene to the final frame, Out in the Dark is a timely and poignant romantic drama-thriller that should not be missed.
Paths
How long is an eternity? A few years, or as fast as the breaking of the waves at the rugged Baltic coast? Andreas and Martin (Mike Hoffmann and Mathis Reinhardt) have shared all the ups and downs of life… and now that their beloved young son has matured and moved out on his own, they have more free time to focus on themselves again. But when they are left alone with only themselves, will the spark still be there? A cautious approach to the traces of a long-term relationship, Paths is a remarkable achievement reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. It tells the full story of this central romance – a touching, deeply emotional warts-and-all examination of the deep, abiding love shared between two men, fathers and lovers. From the first kiss to the present, and everything in between.
