Desire becomes a literal monster in the sexually-charged gay thriller Carnal Sins

A stylish new queer horror-thriller, Carnal Sins follows Nino (Nicolas Diaz), a curious teen who has been enduring homophobic attacks on the streets. After being deemed a bad influence to the other boys in his neighborhood, his parents temporarily move the family to the countryside.

Away from the city, Nino wanders in a forest supposedly haunted by The Almamula, a monster that takes those who commit carnal sins and impure acts.

In the middle of summer, with sweaty bodies all around, the line between dream and reality becomes blurry. In a world surrounded by whispers, unspoken desires and prayers, Nino’s curiosity and impulses surface. As an escape from a reality flooded with toxicity, repressions, interdictions and imminent threat, the hidden and sensuous mysteries of the forest become increasingly attractive to Nino.

 

With gorgeous cinematography, gripping performances and a strong sense of place, this atmospheric, sexually-charged horror-thriller from writer-director Juan Sebastian Torales will linger with you long after the credits roll.

 

Watch the trailer for Carnal Sins below and click here to pre-order your copy. The film will be available on DVD and VOD starting March 26th.

 

Coming Soon: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“A SWEET COMING-OF-AGE STORY GROUNDED BY ITS STRONG LEADING PERFORMANCES” – Film Inquiry

“A BEAUTIFUL, HEARTWARMING FILM” – One Room with a View

“A NUANCED, POWERFUL COMING-OF-AGE TALE THAT’S AS UNSETTLING AS IT IS UPLIFTING” – The Queer Review

“JOYOUS AND HEARTFELT, IT’S A MAGICAL GEM” – Pay or Wait

“FEELS LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR – OR A CLEAR SKY FULL OF STARS” – Smash Cut Reviews

“THIS IS THE KIND OF Y.A. CINEMA KIDS DESERVE” – Autostraddle

“TENDER AND SHARPLY OBSERVED” – Cinemalogue

“HEARTBREAKING IN ALL THE RIGHT WAYS” – Gay City News

“A SWEET LOVE STORY… TERRIFIC PERFORMANCES, GORGEOUS CINEMATOGRAPHY AND IMPORTANT MESSAGES” – Edge Media Network

“ONE OF THE MOST WELL-ROUNDED TEEN MOVIES AROUND” – Variety

 

Produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and adapted from the celebrated young adult novel by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, this joyful romance follows two boys on the cusp of manhood and their blossoming relationship in late 1980s Texas.

A once-in-a-lifetime connection develops when teenage loner Aristotle (Max Pelayo) meets artist Dante (Reese Gonzales) poolside in the summer of 1987. They become one another’s closest friend, bonding over their shared background and unique names. But after a magical summer, Dante has to move away – and his letters to Ari will complicate the dynamic between them.

With tender performances, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a beautiful, multilayered exploration of first love and self-acceptance that casts a beguiling spell.

 

Watch the trailer for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe below and click here to pre-order your copy. The film will be available on DVD and VOD at TLAgay starting March 12th.

 

Trailer Alert: I Love You More

After a year of online pillow-talk, Ben (Don Shala), a shy Kosovar teen, is exhilarated to finally meet Leo (Leonik Sahiti), his first – but still secret – lover.

Consumed with passion, Ben carefully weaves the plans and cover-story for his much desired romantic tryst with Leo, who is arriving from Germany in just one month. Everything must be perfect. But when his mother surprises Ben with the news of the family relocating to a new area, he finds that he can’t take the opportunity to leave with them.

Soon, he starts putting the needs of his family on hold for the love of a mysterious boy he’s never met.

The feature-length debut of prolific short film director Erblin Nushi, I Love You More is a tender, resonant and gorgeously crafted queer coming-of-age drama.

 

Watch the trailer for I Love You More below and click here to pre-order your copy. The film will be available on DVD at TLAgay starting March 5th.

 

Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke star in Pedro Almodóvar’s Gay Western Strange Way of Life

“An exploration of traditional American cowboy machismo imbued with taboos of male-on-male lust.” – Awards Daily

“Atmospheric, cinematic and beautiful, the plot is simple but the characters complex.” – The Pink Lens

“A sweet, mournful, exquisitely acted story.” – Daily Mail

“A provocative movie that brings out the best in both of its leads.” – Rolling Stone

“Almodóvar crafts a Western of forlorn stares and longing glances, where desire and passion cut deeper than any six-shooter.” – Exclaim!

“Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, turn up the heat in a visual and aural delight that holds a whole bunch of aces.” – NDTV

Silva (Pedro Pascal) rides a horse across the desert that separates him from the town of Bitter Creek… and Sheriff Jake (Ethan Hawke).

Twenty-five years earlier, both men worked together as hired gunmen and shared a passionate love affair. The spark is still present when the pair reunite, share dinner and make love. But Silva has other reasons for his visit… and they may be the breaking point for their secret relationship.

Directed with incredible visual flair by maverick auteur Pedro Almodóvar, this 31-minute short film (only his second in the English language) captivated audiences at the Cannes Film Festival.

A stylish revisionist western with a decidedly queer twist, featuring two prolific A-list actors in the lead roles, Strange Way of Life is a bold cinematic treat about two men who have turned their backs on their own desires.

 

Watch the trailer for Strange Way of Life below and click here to pre-order your copy. The film will be available on DVD starting February 27th at TLAgay.

 

Now Available On-Demand: Body Shop

“Dust to dust. Dirt to dirt. Everything is fine. All taboos are off. Welcome to the body shop.”

Hong Kong-based artist Scud (Voyage, Adonis, Amphetamine) had previously announced that he would be retiring from filmmaking… but not before releasing one more unusual artistic triumph.

In Body Shop, Scud’s newest (and purportedly final) film, we follow the ghost of a young soldier who bids farewell to his mother and travels the world to see his transgender sister.

By possessing living bodies, he meddles with the romances of unfaithful lovers along the way in Taiwan, Japan, Spain and Thailand. In Hong Kong, however, everything changes when he meets a male soulmate amid massive protests. The pair take shelter in a garage whose real purpose is sinister and unthinkable – a place where human bodies are treated in a way beyond moral limits.

Renowned for his visually stunning and sexually frank movies, Body Shop fuses the physical and the spiritual – and once again finds writer-director Scud pushing the boundaries of erotic gay filmmaking.

Watch the trailer for Body Shop below and click here to order your copy. The film is now available on DVD at TLAgay. Most of Scud’s other films, including the similarly erotically-charged recent release Apostles, are also available now on DVD and VOD.

 

 

 

 

 

Now Available On-Demand: Fireworks

Set in Sicily during the summer of 1982, this moving film from Italian director Giuseppe Fiorello follows two young men who find themselves challenging everything and everyone around them, convinced their love can defeat death.

While Italians dream of winning the World Cup, two teenage boys fall in love. Gianni (Samuele Segreto) is bullied because of his homosexuality, but his life changes when he meets, by accident, Nino (Gabriele Pizzurro), a captivating and innocent boy.

The profound friendship they develop soon turns into love, as they start working together for Nino’s father, shooting fireworks. When their bond is discovered by their families, the consequences are as violent as the times and mores are conservative.

Inspired by a true story, Fireworks tells a profoundly emotionally love story. Watch the trailer below and click here to order your copy. The film is available on DVD and VOD at TLAgay.

 

Coming Soon: Liuben

Set in a Bulgarian mountain village where prejudice simmers, Liuben follows a summer romance that develops between two young men from very different worlds.

When Victor (Dimitar Nikolov) returns to his childhood home in Bulgaria for his grandfather’s funeral, he decides to stay for the summer.

While reconnecting with his father and their village’s way of life, he forms an unexpected connection with Liuben (Bojidar Iankov Asenov), a slightly younger Roma boy. Despite their differences, and the conflicts around them, Victor and Liuben find refuge in each other.

The first openly gay film from Bulgaria, Liuben is a poetic romance, telling the heartfelt story of two lovers who are condemned to be strangers in their own land.

Watch the trailer for Liuben below and click here to pre-order your copy. The film will be available on DVD and VOD at TLAgay starting February 27th.

 

 

 

Trailer Alert: Lie with Me

A powerful and emotional romantic drama from director Olivier Peyon, Lie with Me centers on a middle-aged man who, when visiting his childhood town, is flooded with memories of his first gay love.

Celebrated novelist Stephane Belcourt (Guillaume de Tonquedec) travels to his hometown after over thirty years. There, he meets Lucas (Victor Belmondo), the son of Thomas, his secret teenage love.

Lucas, inquisitive for information on his now deceased father, sets off turbulent emotions in the writer. His mind is soon flooded with memories of Thomas and their summer of love.

The film contrasts the wintry present with the sun-splashed summer past when the shy, bespectacled Stephane (played as a younger man by Jeremy Gillet) meets and falls for the rough and tumble Thomas (Julien De Saint Jean).

Gorgeously crafted and critically lauded, Lie with Me is an erotic, tender, romantic and heartbreaking tale of a lost love that lingers.

 

Watch the trailer for Lie with Me below and click here to pre-order your copy. The film will be available on DVD and VOD at TLAgay starting February 28th.

 

https://youtu.be/puqWjc0iExs

Boy Culture is back – older and wiser – with a brand-new installment!

From creators Q. Allan Brocka and Matthew RettenmundBoy Culture: Generation X is the long-awaited sequel to the 2006 gay indie hit.

This new installment picks up many years after the first film, following hard-working male escort X (Derek Magyar) as he finds himself up against a much younger generation – who have gained a competitive edge on the market.

He’s soon taken under the wing of Chayce (Jason Caceres), a barely-legal twink who is ruthlessly up to speed on how to sell himself to clients in the digital age.

As X struggles to keep his aging body fit and his unusual roster of kinky clients happy, he is also dealing with the realities of living with his ex-boyfriend Andrew (Darryl Stephens), who is aiming to move on from their former romantic entanglement.

Magyar and Stephens, the stars of the original film, are back for this brand-new story, surrounded by many new faces.

Older, wiser and more incisive than ever, Boy Culture: Generation X has a lot to say about love, sex, relationships and aging gracefully in a culture that often values youthful good looks above all else.

 

Watch the trailer for Boy Culture: Generation X below and click here to order your copy. The film is now available on DVD at TLAgay!

 

Now Available: Barrio Boy

A Latino barber in a macho world faces a tough road ahead when he develops an attraction for a handsome stranger during a hot and sweaty New York City summer.

From director Dennis Shinners, Barrio Boy tells the story of Quique (Dennis Garcia), a Nuyorican barber living in a rapidly changing Brooklyn neighborhood who embarks on an erotically charged odyssey of self-discovery.

A chance encounter on a basketball court sparks an instant attraction with a handsome Irish stranger named Kevin (James Physick), who is passing through town to settle his late father’s affairs.

As their friendship blossoms, so do suspicions about the nature of their relationship, especially to the jealous eye of Cuz (Keet Davis), Quique’s childhood friend turned local bully.

Quique’s quest for love and self-acceptance is further realized as he navigates his way through the complex and often messy layers of sexuality, family, friends, race and class.

Watch the trailer for Barrio Boy below and click here to order your copy. The film is now available on DVD at TLAgay.