Theo and Hugo
French filmmakers Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau tell a gay love story in real time, opening with an explicit 20-minute scene in a naked sex club before following the eponymous duo (beautifully played by Geoffrey Couet and François Nambot) into the early morning streets of Paris. Bold and artful, this beautifully shot film explores some very big issues without ever getting preachy. Theo and Hugo may be all loved up, but they are also immediately faced with things like the fear of HIV to casual cultural bigotry. A queer masterpiece.
Departure
Alex Lawther (who played the young Alan Turing in The Imitation Game) stars as sensitive British teen Elliot, who is struggling to accept his sexuality as he travels to France with his mother (the glorious Juliet Stevenson). Crushing on hot local mechanic Clement (Phenix Brossard), Elliot sees the world through an imaginative filter. And first-time filmmaker Andrew Steggall challenges the viewer to take this journey too. It’s challenging and a bit gloomy, but also darkly beautiful and laced with brittle humour. And it leaves us with a glimmer of hope.
The Pass
Russell Tovey gives a storming performance in this filmed version of the play about a closeted gay football star. Told in three scenes, we meet Tovey’s Jason as a young wannabe larking about in his pants with lusty teammate Ade (Arinze Kene), then five years later in a battle of wills with a stripper (Lisa McGrillis), and after another five years he reunites with Ade. The structure may be stagey, but the raw performances and physicality make it utterly gripping. And what it says about celebrity and sexuality is profound.
From Afar
Top Chilean actor Alfredo Castro (The Club) stars in this Venezuelan drama about a lonely middle-aged gay man who hires young escorts to look at but never touch. But his pattern is broken by the darkly brooding Elder (Luis Silva), who violently robs him but comes back for more. Where this goes is difficult and controversial, refusing to simplify the characters’ sexuality or the chemistry between them. It’s a stark depiction of how it feels to be gay in a society that rejects you. And it quietly reveals unexpected truths about us too.
Under the Shadow
A British film set in Tehran during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, this is a rare horror movie that finds original ways to unnerve the audience while exploring some intriguing political themes. It centres on a woman (Narges Rashidi) whose husband has been sent to the front, and now her young daughter (Avin Manshadi) is convinced there’s something much more terrifying in their apartment block than the bombs falling from the skies. By mixing social commentary with inventive horror, filmmaker Babak Anvari has made the scariest, most haunting film this year.
Plus, 10 more films that shouldn’t be missed include: Spotlight, Room, Rogue One, Anomalisa, Son of Saul, Arrival, Embrace of the Serpent, Fire at Sea, Little Men and Green Room.
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